A Soul of Fire
by SatireSwift
Summary: It has been five years since the horrors of the Fifth Holy Grail War, and Shirou Kotomine, Executor of the Church, is being sent to Shin Tokyo to oversee the area. When a series of happenstances cause him to find his birth family and a secret battle royale between alien babes, he decides to do what he does best. Let's just hope there's a city after he's done. An In Flight spin off.
1. Chapter 1

Fire. That was the world that the young boy was brought into. It may have not been true in the literal sense, but as the boy wandered through the burning streets, all traces of his past were consumed by the flames. He could vaguely hear the cries of despair and pain around him, but he did not truly listen to it. It merely sunk into his being as he walked forward, step by step, headless of the cries of the dying, of the desolation around him, of his own wounds and burns that gradually slowed his forward march. The boy only barely noticed when his legs gave out underneath him and he collapsed to the ground on his back.

It was the fire that created him. And like a flame, he was going to be extinguished.

However, that was not to be. As the boy stared up at the dull orange sky created by the flames and the clouds, a face moved into his vision. It was a man's face, with short brown hair and empty eyes. There was no expression on the man's face for the longest moment. Then, the man smiled.

It was not a pleasant or happy smile. Even in the boy's current state, he could tell that it was not a smile that people should have. It was a twisted, cruel thing that only took joy in the suffering of others. Given the multitude of thing the boy could have thought of before unconsciousness took him, it is odd that he thought the thing he did.

_Maybe the fire exists to burn things like that…_

* * *

Takami was, to put it mildly, pissed. The various airport personnel who happened to be in the service hallway with her noticed the woman's mood and swiftly moved out of her way. To be fair, that might have also been due to Karasuba, as the Black Sekirei was walking behind her and idly playing with her katana, but either way it suited the scientist just fine. One of their new experimental DNA scanners at the airport had pick up something of an anomaly with one of the passenger's, finding a partial match with herself. Even though the technology was new, there was no way that it could be an accident or coincidence, so Takami was on her way with the leader of the Disciplinary Squad to interrogate the man and find out what the hell was going on.

As she thought about possibilities, a memory came unbidden, and she felt a sharp pang of pain before she suppressed the idea. _No, don't be foolish_, Takami thought to herself, _he died a long time ago_.

Went she got to the room and opened the door, she was somewhat surprised by what she saw. The man in question was quite tall, fairly young, and had a spiky mass of red hair on his head. He appeared to be clothed like a priest, save for the dark red overcoat he wore on top of it. However, the most striking feature about him was the burns. Most of his body was clothed, but Takami could see several burn marks on his face, a few of which seemed to extend down past his collar. Despite the marks, they didn't seem to detract from man's appearance, instead giving him a somewhat wild look.

Takami was also somewhat surprised by the sight of a woman in the room with him before remembering that the report said he had a companion. She was a short thing, with blond hair done up in a bun and brilliant green eyes. She was wearing a simple blouse and skirt combination.

The man turned to Takami with a slightly irritated expression. "Are you the ones here to diagnose the mechanical error?" he said, without a hint in his tone that he was anything more than innocent.

Takami felt her anger rise at this, and responded with a snort "Cut the crap." As she walked up to the table and set up her laptop, Karasuba walked into the room and went to lean in the opposite corner. Both the man and woman stared at the Sekirei as she did so, though the man returned his gaze to the scientist after a moment. Takami continued "Who are you and what were you trying to pull with this little stunt?" She idly notice that the woman continued to stare at Karasuba, and had gradually positioned herself between the man and the Sekirei.

However, Takami thoughts on the matter were interrupted when the man did something she did not expect: he smiled. "Finally, something interesting. Do you have any idea how boring it is to wait for two hours in a completely beige room with nothing but old magazines? We had to find our own entertainment until you arrived. It's almost worth whatever misguided idea you seem to have about me."

An eyebrow twitched on Takami's face at his blatant disregard for the situation. "I said cut the crap. Now tell me who you are and just who you work for."

The man arched an eyebrow at her. "Well, you are certainly worked up about something. Very well, my name is Shirou Kotomine, and who I work for, if you can't tell by my attire, is the Roman Catholic Church."

The white haired woman gave another snort at this as she sat down at her laptop and began pulling up the information the DNA Sequencer took from this man. She didn't believe him for one second, as Shirou didn't exactly strike her as the religious type for one thing. For another…

Takami was never what she would consider a people person. She was always far more interested in science and technical things to really go beyond talking to other scientist. However, she had spent the last twenty or so years in the company of members of an alien species, so she could say that she had a fair understanding of what they were like. Shirou, to put it simply, reminded her of a Sekirei more than a human. There were a number of little things, but mostly it was the eyes and smile. As far as she could tell the smile was genuine and warm, but the eyes didn't quite match it. To be sure, there was warmth in the eyes too; it was just that there was something else deep inside those amber pools, something inhuman. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew that the person in front of her wouldn't quite act like a normal human being.

There were a few moments before she pulled up the information she needed. She briefly scanned over it before she blinked in surprise when she saw that Shirou's DNA was also a partial match for Minaka as well. Thoughts of her lost son welled up inside of her before she ruthlessly crushed it again. Takami knew it was irrational, but she felt it was this man's fault for opening old wounds, which was probably why she didn't think very hard before saying "Karasuba. Please get the truth out of him."

"With pleasure, Taka-" That was as far as she got before a loud slam echoed through the room. Looking up from the laptop, the scientist was shocked to find the blond woman standing in front of Karasuba, her hand pressed on the pommel of the Black Sekirei's sword. The still sheathed blade was now wedged into the corner Karasuba was leaning in just a moment ago, her hands on the sheath and hilt clearly showing that she had been drawing it just a moment before. For her part, the alien looked just as shocked as Takami felt, her eyes wide as she stared at the smaller woman in front of her. The blonde was still, with only the light swish of her crimson skirt indicating that she had moved at all.

"I will not let you lay a hand on my Praetor, woman." The blonde said imperiously as she stared the swordswoman down.

The expression of shock left Karasuba, and was quickly replaced by one of manic glee. Takami knew that look. It meant that if something wasn't done soon, the walls of the room would become shade redder in a few moments.

It was Shirou of all people who intervened. "Now Nero, let's not get too lively. As interesting as I am sure it would be, it would be a terrible inconvenience later if thing got out of hand."

The now named Nero looked at Shirou for a moment before her expression softened a bit, and she released her grip on the pommel. She turned back to Karasuba and said "It seems that our performance shall have to wait till another day."

The Sekirei relaxed a bit as well, thought the grin didn't leave her face. "Oh yes," she replied. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Shirou turn back to Takami. "Now with that settled, why don't you ask me what you want to know. I appreciated your enthusiasm, but I assure you it's unnecessary."

"Uh, right." Takami said, a little off balance due to the scene that unfolded before her. She gave a sidelong glance at Nero and said "Interesting company you have."

Shirou looked at the woman with a proud and loving smile. "She is the light of my life. I shudder to think what I may have become without her."

The white haired woman arched an eyebrow at this somewhat romantic statement. "I thought you were a priest?"

"Oh no, I'm just a deacon."

There was a soft huff from Nero and a mutter of "Like I would ever let you take a vow of celibacy…" before Shirou walked back over and took a seat opposite Takami. "Now please, ask your questions."

She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "Name?"

"Shirou Kotomine"

"Purpose of visiting Japan?"

"I am in fact a resident, and merely returning from a trip."

"Reason for leaving?"

"I needed to go the Vatican for spiritual guidance and to receive my next assignment."

"Which is?"

"Shin Tokyo of course. I'm here to help set up some churches within the city."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"Oh , you know, organizing charities, scouting land and contracts, burning heretics-"

"Wait, what was that last one?"

Shirou gave a laugh. "I was just kidding." He said, although Takami wasn't quite sure if he was telling the truth or not. "In any case, I could give you some contact information if you want to verify this."

"Yes." Takami said as she wrote all this down at a rapid pace. After getting the contact information, she decided to switch gears. "Name of parents?"

"I was adopted by one Kirei Kotomine."

"Then Kotomine is the adopted family name?"

"Yes, though it would seem that I am the only one left to bear it. I'm afraid my adopted father died when his Church burned down." Somehow, Shirou didn't seem particularly saddened by this fact.

"I'm… sorry for your loss." Takami said evenly.

"Don't be. He was a terrible excuse for a human being." Was the casual reply.

Takami heisted for a moment before continuing. "Name of biological parents?"

"I don't remember."

Takami paused, this time in confusion. She had been expecting something more definitive then that, for reasons she was not quite sure of. As such, the answer had mentally derailed her for a moment. "What do you mean you don't remember?"

Shirou gave a sigh. "Do you remember the Fukuyi City fire?" Takami's heart skipped a beat at this, but he didn't seem to notice. "Well, I was found a block from ground zero the night it happened by Kirei. I'm still not entirely sure just why he saved me to this day, but I suppose I'm grateful that he did. I can't remember anything about my past the day before that night, so my biological family most likely died. The doctors said it wasn't unexpected that I received memory loss from experiencing a trauma like that at such a young age."

No. No it couldn't be. Takami quickly accessed the internet to find a map of the damage for the Fukuyi fire, and upon finding one, looked for the center of the fire and the location of her mother's house. Her little Minato had been staying with her mother when he had the chicken pox, and the fire had taken them both from her. She had looked in every hospital she could find for him, but had never found anything. Looking at the map, she saw that the house was close enough to the center of damage to work with his story.

She looked back at Shirou's face, looking for any signs of her Minato. It was hard to tell, with the difference in age and the burn marks, though she thought she saw some similarities. The hair was another indicator, as Minato also had that unusual shade of red. Still, it could just be coincidence, however unlikely. Looking closer at his hair, she managed to spot a single white one amide the red.

Her heart stopped and the color drained from her face as the realization hit her. _Shiro-chan_. The nickname she had given her son for all times he had found a new white hair on her head. In that moment she realized that this was her son, and why she had never found him.

Meanwhile, the man across from here was looking at her with some concern. "Um, are you alright? You suddenly went pale."

Takami collected herself as best she could, and after getting him to breathe into the machine a second time, she explained to him the partial match and who the database contained.

For the first time since she met him, Shirou was stunned. "Wait, you're saying my parents are… alive. Who are they?"

Takami hesitated for a moment before taking out her phone, bringing up an old family picture and showing it to him.

There was a long silence as Shirou stared at the photo. Takami wondered how he would react. She got her answer when he looked back up at her, with watery eyes and a smile on his face.

"Mother…" he said, and then with surprising speed he rounded the table and wrapped her in a hug.

Intellectually, she knew that it was rather silly for him to accept the crazy situation so fast. He should be demanding evidence, waiting for proof before he acted on anything. Hell, she knew she should wait until getting some more blood tests done to be sure before she accepted it. But, at that moment, she couldn't do that. At that moment, her Minato was back in her arms again.

It had been a long time since she cried like that.

* * *

Karasuba had watched the mother and son reconnect with no small amount of boredom. She couldn't care less about the whole thing, and they had spent over two hours talking to each other about pointless things before Takami had excused herself to make some phone calls.

The small woman, Nero was her name, walked up to Shirou with a contented smile on her face. "Beautifully done. A truly touching display of a reuniting of a long lost son with his mother. Oh, and I am of course happy for you."

Ah, now this woman was far more interesting. She had moved far faster than any human should have to block her draw. Not only that, she had strength to keep her from drawing after that as well. Combine that with the fact that she had stared Karasuba down without hesitation, the Black Sekirei knew she had found something more than a mere human in that small frame.

Shirou gave his companion to a dry smile. "Nice to know that my emotional well being is aesthetically pleasing."

"Meh, I found it kinda boring" Karasuba remarked, trying to get a rise out of the two.

It worked, as Nero gave the Sekirei a disdainful look. "Hm. It's clear that you have no appreciation for art. I shall have to show you what true art is the day we cross blades."

"Oh, so you're a swordsman are you?" Karasuba remarked as she slowly drew her blade. "So why don't you show me your sword now?"

"Now now ladies, this isn't the time for fighting." Shirou said as he put himself between the two. "I'm sure that the opportunity will arise again later."

"And what if I want to play now?" Karasuba asked, leveling her sword at the man.

Shirou quickly put his hand out to stop Nero from getting between them before turning back to Karasuba. "I know that you probably don't consider me much of a threat, but I would advise that you revise that opinion."

"And why's that?"

He stepped forward and gently took the blade between two of his fingers. "Because you're far from the first creature to do so. I don't know what you are, but I know you not human. I've seen plenty things like you, things that think they can play with humanity all they want because we're too weak to stop you. And do you know what humanity does to such creatures?"

A manic smile spread on his face, his teeth bared and Karasuba could swear she could see small flames flicker in the back of his eyes. "**We burn them.**"

A moment later, it passed. Shirou stepped back, and was to all appearances a simple man of the cloth. He gave the Sekirei a small smile before taking Nero's hand and waking out into the hall.

Karasuba stared after him for a moment before sheathing her blade. Or at least, she tried to, but the sword only went in a few inches before getting stuck. Frowning, she took it out and looked at it. Her eyebrows went up upon finding that the blade had somehow become warped, as if it had been subjected to a great heat and deformed.

An even wider grin split her face. It looks things were about to get more interesting in Shin Tokyo.


	2. Chapter 2

I blinked a few times upon waking and proceeded to sit up, stretching and yawning as I did so. An unhappy murmuring and some grabby hands quickly brought me back down to the futon again, and I found myself once again lying next to my sleeping Nero. I briefly considered cuddling next to her for a few more minutes, but decided against it. That was a trap; if I let himself relax there would be no getting up for hours and breakfast would go unmade. Fortunately, I knew how to get out of my Servant's grip whenever she got clingy in her sleep.

I gently leaned over her and began whispering a number of sweet nothings in her ear, praising her beauty and magnificence. By the time I got to how her strength was greater than a lion, a happy smile crossed her face and she relaxed her grip, allowing me to get out of bed unimpeded. Nero was always vulnerable to flattery, even when she wasn't conscious. It was so effective that I almost felt bad whenever I used it, and tried to refrain from doing so unless I really had to. And in my book, cooking breakfast counted as one of those times.

Standing up, I looked back down at Nero's sleeping form. She rolled over to collect the rest of the blankets, cover up her bare body and a soft mutter of "Gao…" coming from her as she did so. I was unable to keep a smile off his face at the cute display. I could still perfectly remember the day my slightly misanthropic teenage self summoned her. At the time, I had no idea what I really wanted out of the Grail War, just that I wanted something _more_. And I certainly got that in spades when the scantily clad roman emperor appeared before me. Her inner fire and radiance were something I had never seen before.

Maybe I could- No, bad Shirou! No falling for the trap that is warm blankets and even warmer Nero. I had breakfast to make.

I slipped on a pair of pants before making his way to the kitchen. Normally, I wasn't comfortable showing my bare torso to most people, as the network of burns across my body raised some uncomfortable questions, but it was just me and the early morning hours at the moment. My apartment wasn't particularly big, but my position within the Church insured me a space that provided plenty of room for two of us, along with a fully stocked kitchen. As I turned on the stove and got out the ingredients, I went over his plans for the day.

It had been about 5 months since I had first come to Shin Tokyo and had reunited with my family. Things had been a bit awkward at first; As much as I had wondered what it was like, I had never really experienced a caring family before so I was at a loss at what to do sometimes, and my mother and sister hadn't been sure how to treat me either. Still, everyone involved was making an effort, so things had become more comfortable of late. I still wasn't sure why Takami was being so evasive on the subject of my father though. Whenever I asked, she simply said "that man isn't with us anymore." It was such that I wasn't sure if Sahashi was Takami's maiden name or not.

Though this hadn't really mattered to me when Takami asked me to change my name back to Minato Sahashi. No, I had been reluctant to change my name for a different reason. As odd as it was, I felt an attachment to that name, even though the legacy of the name Kotomine wasn't exactly one I cared to carry. Kirei Kotomine and I were never actually that close either, as I always had an innate distrust of the man. The intuition that proved to be spot on as I found out during the Grail War, as he was the man who fielded a Servant during the War even though he was supposed to be an impartial judge, the man who trapped countless orphans in his basement to feed Gilgamesh, the man who killed Ayako…

I shook his head, to rid myself of the memories. In the end, I had changed my name to Shirou Kotomine Sahashi, changing my surname into my middle one. It was a western thing to do, but it seemed appropriate. I had kept my first name as I felt that was more important to who I was. While my mother had disapproved, I told her that she could still call me Minato if she liked, and she found this an acceptable compromise.

As I thought about it, I remembered that I was meeting my family for lunch today, in between my actual assignments. Though there were certainly more reasons for coming to Shin Tokyo then I had let on, I was telling truth when I said that I was here to help set up new churches. This was a relatively new city, only coming into existence within the past 30 years or so, and as such did not have much relation to many of the older establishments in the world. The Church did not expect a very big following in the technologically advanced city (or for the rest of Japan for that matter), but it was always prudent to have safe havens wherever possible in the event that one of their people needed sanctuary.

I was going through my itinerary of people I needed to talk to when my thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of two warm, soft things pressing into my back and a pair of arms circled around my midsection. "You would think with all the creative things people have invented since my reign, they would have figured how to let someone cook breakfast without leaving bed." said a voice from behind him.

I didn't turn, still busy finishing up the meal. "I don't think most people feel that's a problem that needs solving." I remarked dryly. "Besides, I like cooking this way just fine."

There was some grumbling into my back before she spoke again. "Don't forget that I'm presenting my designs to the contractors today."

I suppressed a wince. "I don't think that my superiors will like how costly the resulting architecture will be."

"But modern designs are _so_ boring." Nero replied. "They are functional, but far too bland. A place of worship needs to be inspiring." She paused for a moment. "That reminds me, we're working later tonight, correct?"

I could tell by her tone that she wasn't talking about the more mundane aspects of my role within the Church. I set down the finished meal on the counter and said "Yes. The local handler told me that a Dead Apostle was tracked to this city, and a few people have gone missing as of late. He was weakened by a number of skirmishes with the Clock Tower before he got here, but we should nip it in the bud as soon as possible. How are your reserves?"

"Hmm…" Nero said as she nuzzled his back. "A little over half. It should be more than enough if what you said is true."

I gave a small frown as I looked at the tattoo on my left hand. "True, though I'll probably need to use the stronger method to replenish your prana soon."

The arms around my waist tightened and Nero's voice took on a sultry tone. "I prefer the other way more." she said, and swiftly kicked my legs out from under me. I managed to give small sigh and smirk before the two of us toppled to the ground.

Breakfast was cold by the time we got to it.

* * *

The building was on fire, and it wasn't Homura's fault.

He wasn't sure why that fact mattered to him that much. Seeing as how he had noticed the smoke from a few blocks away before moving to his current position on top of a building across the street from the growing inferno, there was no way it could possibly be considered his fault. Still, as foolish as it was, Homura had always felt a sort of personal responsibly for his element. Fire could be a terrible thing at times.

He had only really come out of curiosity, and to see how bad things truly were. At the moment, things didn't seem too bad; while he would never call any of the buildings in Shin Tokyo old, the 5 story apartment complex in question looked like it had been unused for some time, so it was probable that there wasn't anyone inside. Also, while the fire was steadily growing in size it wasn't too close to any of the building surrounding it, so the fire department would likely be able to arrive before it spread too far.

He was about to leave when a flash of movement caught his eye. He could only just make it out through a third floor balcony door, but he managed to see a blur of red pass before he heard a slam and what sounded like a wall collapsing. Looking more closely, he thought he saw a darker blur pass behind the adjacent two balcony doors (with another series of crashes) before disappearing again.

Homura furrowed his brow in concern at this. Was there really a battle between Sekirei going on inside of the burning building? It might explain why the building was on fire in the first place, and it certainly looked like someone was moving at super human speeds, but he thought that his kin would still have more sense than that. Sekirei were strong, but as far as he knew he was the only one among them who could withstand high temperatures.

He gave a worried sigh and proceeded to jump to the balcony were he last saw the commotion. He had no way of know if one of the Sekirei involved was unwinged or not unless he asked, and he couldn't just stand by if a bird needed help and he was the only one around that possibly could given the situation. He just hoped he could get in and out before the building took too much damage to support itself.

He opened the sliding door and was hit by a wave of heat, though he was able to shrug it off without much effort. Being glad he had the sense to wear fire resistant clothing, he carefully moved around the flame covered room looking for any sign of the two he saw before. He could see the holes in the walls that lead into the other rooms, but there was no sign of movement. He looked to where the other person should have landed, but only saw what he thought might have been blood stains and ash. He wasn't sure why, but something about this was really putting him on edge.

_Wait, what is that?_ He thought to himself as he cocked his head to the side listening. It was hard to make out over the roar off the fire, but he could swear he heard… laughter? Not a pleasant laugh by any means, the sound was much closer to a mad cackle than anything else.

He didn't have much time to think about it though, as a second later a groaning above his head was the only warring he had before part off the room above him collapsed. Fortunately for him, he was fast enough to get out of the way before the various debris crushed him. _Th__is is bad. I need to find those__ two and get out of here now._

However, the pile of rubble in front of him started to shift, and he heard a low moan come from it. Panicking, Homura quickly began to dig through the pile. "Hold on! I'll get you out in a second!" He managed to clear enough away so that he could see the outline of a body, and it was at that point things went to hell. The person suddenly surged up, knocking aside the few pieces of junk that were still on him and causing the fire Sekirei to step back in surprise. The person continued his forward movement and jumped at Homura, causing both to tumble to the ground with other on top of him. That when he got a look at the things face.

It looked (and smelled) like a corpse, its gray skin winkled and torn with blood seeping from some of the wounds. Its teeth looked like they had been filed down into points, and the moan it had been emitting had turned into a feral snarl. As Homura's widening eyes stared into its, all he could see was hunger and madness.

_Wh-what the hell is this?!_ He thought as he screamed in sheer surprise and terror. _A zombie?!_ Parts of the creature were on fire, but it didn't seem to notice as it tried to close its mouth around his face. He followed his first instinct of trying to shove it off him, but found to his horror that thing was as strong as he was. He wasn't sure about using his fire power, as he wasn't sure if the thing was human or not.

Homura was saved from this dilemma as a moment later the thing was thrown off of him and slammed into a nearby wall. It landed upright, but only had a moment to growl in anger before a blur separated its head from its shoulders. Homura could only gape in surprise at the sight of the body turning into ash before his eyes, but his gaze was quickly drawn to the woman standing in front of the newly made ash pile.

She was somewhat short, with blond hair done up in a bun. Her dress was a bright crimson with gold embroidery, and had an open back that went so low that it showed off a generous portion of her behind. As she turned to face him, he saw that the dress parted in the front below her waist and her frilly underskirt was apparently see through, giving him a good look at her panties as well as the greaves that covered the lower part of her legs. In her right hand she held a massive sword, at least five feet in length, which had an erratic jagged look.

Let's see: super human abilities, a near fetishistic outfit, and a massive and improbable weapon? _Oh yeah_, Homura thought, _she's defiantly a Sekirei._

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her brilliant green eyes staring at him intently. "I would have thought anyone in the building would have had the sense to get out by now."

"Would have had…" Homura muttered before he angrily got to his feet. "That's what I should be telling you! What hell are you thinking having a battle in a building that's on fire?! No, never mind, what the hell was that thing?!" He yelled as he pointed to the ash pile.

The woman tilted her head to the side as arched an eyebrow. "A ghoul. I was surprised as well, but it seems the Apostle managed to bring a few into the city with him." She paused before looking off to the side. "Oh wait, this is one of those things my Praetor told me to keep quiet about, isn't it?"

Homura blinked in confusion at her use of the old Roman title for the commander of an army. Given how she used it, he figured that that was just how she referred to her Ashikabi. He shook his head. "Ok, never mind. Let's get out of here first and then I can figure out what's going on. Where's the other Sekirei you were fighting with?"

The swordswoman's brow knit together in confusion. "What is this Sekirei you speak of?"

Homura just opened and closed his mouth at this. He was about to ask her what the hell she meant by that when another voice got his attention. "Ahahah! There you are!" Homura spun as he immediately recognized the voice as the same one that made the mad cackle. Dropping through hole which the 'ghoul' had come from, a man in what looked like a priest uniform and a dark red overcoat with a hood landed a short distance away from them. He had a mask on the lower half of his face just like Homura, and combined with the hood he couldn't make out any details. Most alarmingly, the man was holding 6 long thin blades, three in each hand, with arms spread out as he landed.

Under normal circumstances Homura was a generally calm and collected individual, prone to thinking things out before taking action. However, being in a burning building and having his face almost chewed off by a zombie had frayed his nerves somewhat. And in his defense, dropping out of the air while wearing suspicious clothes while laughing like a maniac and holding several swords in your hands is not the best way to introduce yourself. So, Homura could probably be forgiven for screaming in surprise before blasting the stranger with a moderately sized fire ball.

The blast took the man off his feet and sent him back into some more burning debris in the side of the room. Homura gave a small wince. That wasn't the best way to respond to things.

"Oh dear," The woman next to him said. "You should not have done that."

"Hey, he jumped at us with weapons draw. What was I supposed to-"

"He is very difficult to reason with in that state."

"Wait, what?"

That was as far as he got before the laughter reached his ears again. "Fire? I WAS BORN OF THIS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" With a great crash he leaped out of the corner, seemingly completely unharmed. With a quick shout of "**Praeuro Laminas!**", his blades erupted in fire and he hit the ground running at Homura, his blades dragging across the floor as he did so.

_Well__,__ know I know who started the fire_, he thought grimly.

It was a bit odd to see someone else using his own element, but it wasn't completely unexpected. He knew that some of the weapon user Sekirei had secondary elemental powers in addition to their combat skill. He had heard of one girl with a scythe that could make wind blasts, although they were nowhere near as strong as the ones the No. 03 could make. Still, at finding another fire user (and a male at that), Homura felt that the gods were mocking him somehow.

The charge was faster than Homura expected, closing the distance between them before Homura had a chance to realize it. However, before he could receive some undoubtedly painful wounds, the woman next to him put her sword between them just before the other man reached him, causing him to crash into the blade and fall flat on the ground. Homura, while surprised by the sudden turn of events, was also impressed that woman didn't seem to budge in the slightest from this.

The man gave a small groan before he shot a glare at the woman. "What did you do that for?"

"You were going to do something you would have regretted later." She said imperiously, like a school teacher scolding a child. "This man is neither dead nor dying, and furthermore is clearly magus. We would get in trouble with the Clock Tower if you killed him."

The man gave a small grunt as he got up. "As a matter of fact, he isn't magus. I can tell that he's one of those things I've been smelling around the city lately." The woman's eyebrow shot up at that and she gave Homura an inquisitive look. The man continued, this time addressing Homura directly. "In any case, what exactly are you and what are you intentions to humanity? I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with your species."

Homura looked at the two of them in bafflement, both at the priest's sudden shift in attitude and what they were saying "…What the hell are you two talking about?! How do you not know that I'm a Sekirei like you?! Did your adjuster drop you on your heads when you were young or something?!"

The two looked at him quizzically before looking at each other. "Do you know what he's talking about?" The woman asked.

"Not really. But we should probably bring him to my handler in the city before we ask questions. The Apostle is dead and I've swept the building; there's no more dead to be found here. We can leave-" He was cut off as a loud groaning came from the foundation. "-Although now would be a good bring you back up to full." He gestured to the burning building around him.

The woman brightened. "It is convenient that you usually can refill my prana after you do battle, though sometime I wish it didn't cause so much damage."

"Can we please leave the building before we all die-" Homura started.

"Quite fool." The woman said in a tone that left no argument. "Do not interrupt my Praetor while he works."

_Wait, he's her Praetor?_ Homura thought in confusion while the man raised his left hand in the air. _But I thought__-_

Whatever other thoughts he might have had died when the man began to chant.

"**Igne animam meam ego praecipio tibi**,"

The movement of the fire around the room slowed it's dancing before becoming completely still. The roar of the flames which had once permeated the air had become silent.

"**Sumpsimus, Domine, ut mihi,**"

The fire began to slowly dance again, but this time leaning towards the incanting priest. Homura could swear he saw an emblem of some kind glowing red on the back of his hand.

"**Ut continuet maxima flamma!**"

With the last syllable, the flames in the room rushed at the man's left hand, where they seemed to be absorbed and disappear. It wasn't just the fire in the room though; more flames came rushing into the room from the hall the balcony and the holes in the walls and floor, all converging on the man. The priest stood firm in the center of the pyroclasm, seemingly untouched by the fire that was being absorbed into his hand.

It was unreal. Homura had considered himself to be fairly proficient in wielding fire, but he had never even though about doing something like this. How the hell can he possibly be doing this? Homura was the single digit!

After a few more moments, the streams of fire tapered off and an all was still. The room was still oppressively hot, but all traces of the blaze which had been consuming the building had disappeared. The emblem continued to glow for a few moments before fading to black. As Homura gaped at the man, he swept back his hood and lowered his face mask. He was a fairly young man, with longish auburn hair and a number of burn scars on his face. "So, what say you come with me so we can get this sorted?"

It was at that moment Homura felt his chest tighten and his face blush violently. A strong emotion welled up in him which he could only describe as a _pull_.

_What. No. No no no no! This isn't… that can't be possible!_He thought frantically as the man looked at him in confusion. He was reacting to him! How that doesn't even make sense! He was a Sekirei, wasn't he?

This meant one of two things: One, he was somehow reacting to another Sekirei, or two, he was reacting to a human who could somehow control fire. And in either case, he was reacting to a man despite the fact he was heterosexual.

The gods were most definitely mocking him.


	3. Chapter 3

Homura followed the two individuals he had met an hour earlier, still having a hard time understanding what they had told him. Well, what little they did anyway. The man he was reacting to had named himself Shirou, and had confirmed that he was in fact human. When the Sekirei asked him how he had controlled the fire back at the apartment complex, he had the gall to simply reply "magic". Not only that, he seemed bemused when Homura got indignant with the answer and retorted with asking where Homura thought his power came from. The Sekirei was knowable on a great number of things, though the exact biology and mechanics of his species was a bit out of his purview. Still, he knew enough to explain his extraterrestrial origin and MBI's adjustment process. Shirou and his partner Nero had looked at each other for a moment in concern before telling him that he should wait till the three of them met another member of Shirou's organization before giving the whole story.

This put Homura is his current position, following the potentially crazy man back to some clandestine organization that might do god knows what to him. But still, what could he do? Shirou, however unlikely it seemed, was his Ashikabi. He supposed that he could try to deny it like Tsukiumi, but now that he knew he was reacting, Homura had felt an uncomfortable heat building up in him for the past hour. Considering how unstable he was compared to other Sekirei, it likely he would need to wing himself on Shirou soon or his life might be in danger.

Not only that, he still had a slightly hard time believing the organization that Shirou worked for would happen to be interested in an alien species. "Are you sure you work for the Catholic Church?" Homura said to the man's back.

"While I am aware that I look damn fine in this holy garb, I assure you that I'm not just wearing it for how it looks." Shirou replied as he looked back at Homura. "I am a Deacon of the Roman Catholic Church, and while I know that I don't seem like a typical man of the cloth, it's just that my duties are part of the less… public face of the Church."

Homura quickly looked away before his blushing could become obvious again. "Not typical is a very mild way of putting it."

"My Praetor is simply passionate about what he does, as all should be with their given craft." Nero remarked.

Homura turned his gaze to her and his eyes narrowed. Now this woman he knew even less about than Shirou. She had been somewhat evasive when he asked if she was human as well, and he couldn't yet quite tell what her relationship with Shirou was, though they seemed more intimate than just friends. The fact that she had somehow made her giant sword disappear did nothing to abate his suspicions either.

"Ah, here we are." Shirou said as they came to a stop in front of a small sub-level office.

Homura blinked in surprise. "This is it? I would have thought to be a bit more church like."

The man gave a shrug. "We're in the process of building churches in the city right now, but none of them are ready so we've had to work out of here for the time being." He then proceeded to walk down the steps and open the door. "Yuika-san, we're here with that- blurgk!"

Whatever he was about to say was transformed into a strangled gargle as a bible flew through the air and collided with his forehead with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground. Homura was alarmed at first and took fighting stance, but Nero put hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "Don't worry, this happens pretty much every time he comes back from an assignment."

Before he could think on this, he heard a female voice from inside the office. "You know, I had hoped that finding your long lost family might have calmed you down a bit, but nooooo." Looking through the doorway, Homura saw a rather spartan office past the small reception area, with a desk and a filling cabinet along with two more doors in the back. Sitting on the desk was a rather cross looking middle aged woman with long brown hair wearing a nun habit. "I have to get woken up at two in the morning to get a call telling me that on your very first assignment within city limits, you burn down a building."

Shirou got to his feet, a tick mark forming on his head at the woman's tirade. "Yuika, the building was turning into a nest of undead! It's standard procedure to sterilize the area!"

"It's also standard procedure to limit collateral damage, you freaking pyromaniac!" The nun yelled back. "I'm pretty sure you could have down your job without turning a 5 story apartment complex into an inferno!"

Shirou gave an indignant huff. "It wasn't that bad. Besides, I absorbed the flames before I left."

"Oh yes, you certainly did… right as the fire department got there! Now we have to hypnotize the lot of them was some lame excuse with how the fire suddenly disappeared before their eyes!" The woman took a few breaths to calm herself before continuing. "My point is you're a loose cannon, Kotomine. If it were up to me I would have asked for your badge by now."

The priest rolled his eyes at this. "First of all, Executors don't have badges and you need to stop watching 80's cop movies. Secondly, I'm an Executor because I'm very good at what I do and the rest of the Burial Agency can see that."

The nun narrowed her eyes at him. "First of all, I will not have you slander the greatest movies the West has ever made. _Die Hard_ alone is a masterpiece worthy of worldwide praise. Secondly, you're still only the reserve Executor, and I'm quite certain that's because you bring something other than you skills to the table." The nun gave a meaningful glance to small blonde woman standing next to him. Homura heard a low growl emanate from Shriou's throat, but the nun didn't hear it or decided to ignore it as she continued. "Anyway, I could have waited till morning to tell you all of this, but you said something about finding a new Phantasmal Species on the phone?"

Shirou gave a grunt and pointed to Homura. "He's one of the things I've been sensing around the city these past few months. I ran into him after I finished off the Apostle and he was polite enough to come with me here so you could learn about his species. A bit surprising considering what the last one I ran into was like. As being diplomatic with creatures is somewhat out of my job description, I figured you would have a better idea of what to do."

Homura was a little annoyed at how they were talking about him like he wasn't there, a feeling not helped by how the nun was scrutinizing him intensely while muttering under her breath. The Sekirei thought he saw a something glowing through her head piece, but he figured he must have imagined it. After a few moments, her eyebrows rose slightly before she started rummaging through her outfit. "To be honest, I don't think there's any real procedure for this. It's very rare for us to encounter a new species, and even rarer for one to be willing to sit down and have a conversation with us. If this were anyone's job, it would probably be the Eighth Sacrament's. Maybe Merem's." The woman finally found all the items she was looking for: a number of fairly large books and a simple tape recorder. Given the combined volume of the items, Homura was unsure how she stored it all on her person. After putting the books on the desk, opening them to various pages and pressing a button on the recorder, she turned back to Homura. "Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to play this one by ear until I report this to my own superiors, so please bear with me." She said in a crisp business-like manner. "I am Yuika Futo, Exorcist of the Holy Church of Rome. If you would be so kind, could you please introduce yourself and identify your species as well as you intentions towards humanity."

Houmra had been silent for the past few minutes as he simply listened to the people around him, but now that it was his turn to speak, he said the only thing he could at the moment. "What?!"

Yuika gave a small frown at this. "I'm sorry if I offended you-"

"No! Just… what?! This is impossible! You can't possibly be some secret faction of the Vatican, that only exists in bad movies! And you," he said turning to Shirou. "You can't be human and somehow magically control fire while sextuple wielding swords! And don't say magic again! And you," he turned Nero to continue his rant. "I don't even have the faintest idea what you are, but it's probably impossible too! And that 's not even mentioning that zombie thing! What the hell is going on?!"

Yuika stared at Homura in confusion, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Eventually she turned to Shirou with a questioning look.

Shirou gave a sigh before saying to the Sekirei "This will be a lot easier to explain if we had some context about you first. Just start with MBI and work your way from there."

* * *

A few minutes later, the fire Sekirei had explained everything he knew about his origin, from the crashed space ship to MBI finding them to their adjustment process. Safe to say, by the end of his explanation he was not the only one in the room feeling incredulous anymore.

"Let me get this straight." Yuika said. "You're an… alien of extra-solar origin?"

Homura folded his arms. "Why does that surprise you? You seemed perfectly willing to accept that I was a different species a moment ago."

"It's not the fact that there are aliens that surprises me. We already know of at least two." Homura blinked in surprise at this, but she continued on. "What bothers me is that you look so… human."

Shirou spoke up from behind him. "Yes, but those of the Type-Moon lineage look almost exactly like us as well."

"Ah! That is because they chose to look like us, correct?" Nero said. "It must be the same thing with these Sekirei, though I imagine it was more of a choice on the part of MBI than their own people."

Homura was pretty sure that wasn't true, but felt oddly uncomfortable that he couldn't immediately refute the claim either.

Yuika gave a hum as she thought this over before she gave a shrug. "Well, whatever the case may be, I'm still more interested in what you said your species is doing. Something about finding your… what did you call it?"

"Ashikabi." He said, trying very hard not to look at Shirou and ignored his steadily rising fever. "Sekirei are incomplete on our own. We need to find a human partner to… bond with to gain full control of our powers."

"And what exactly does this 'bond' entail? What are your human partners to you Sekirei?" The num asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Homura scratched the side of his head nervously for a moment, too embarrassed to come out and say it considering the circumstances. Eventually, he said "Well… they're our mates."

"Really?" Nero asked with some interest. "Sekirei mate with the human's they are bonded to rather than their own kind? That seems odd."

"It's how our biology works. We're hardwired to feel an immense attraction to the person we're genetically compatible with. It even has an effect on our minds somewhat when we are winged- I'm mean, when we bond. After that, Sekirei will for the most part follow the will of their Ashikabi."

"Huh." Yuika said as she mulled this over. "Well, we'll have to look into this more, but if it is true than it is unlikely that the Burial Agency will declare your species a threat to humanity. At least on the whole, as we will still eliminate any individuals who mean harm."

Homura glared at her as she said that. "And just what is this Burial Agency? I like to think I have been very patient with you and that I deserve to know just who the hell you people are, especially if your organization might want to kill me for some reason."

The nun nodded at this. "That is fair, and I suppose it is understandable that you wouldn't know who we are seeing as how you kind is fairly new and has never been outside this city. The first and most important thing you seem to need informing about is the fact that magic is real."

The Sekirei stared at her for a moment. "You can't possibly be serious."

It was then several things happened at once. The nun uttered a quick phrase in Latin while throwing her hands out, and what looked like a number of pages shot out from her sleeves and the books behind her. They pined themselves to the walls around them and in a circle on the floor around Homura. With a final syllable, the text on the pages lit up with a yellow glow and the Sekirei found himself falling to his knees, his own weight suddenly too much to bear. His widened in surprise at this, as he had no idea how to explain what just happened to him.

Framed by the light of the glowing texts behind her, Yuika gave a small smirk. "I assure you I'm being quite serious, unless you have a different explanation for what is happening right now."

Homura heard Shirou speak up behind him. "Stop that. You could have given him a demonstration that didn't involve you bringing him to the ground."

A moment later, Homura felt the pressure lift from him and saw the pages drift back to the desk. Yuika gave a small shrug. "Perhaps, but he needs to know that we can and will fight any who think us prey."

"Ok, ok!" the Sekirei exclaimed, not in a state to consider fighting people with these strange powers. Getting up, he said "Let's say that I believe you. What exactly does that make you?"

"The Burial Agency is a division of the Church that has existed for centuries for the purpose of hunting down and killing anything supernatural that threatens mankind. We hunt demons, Dead Apostles, magi who have gone too far in their experimentation, as well as a number of other more esoteric things."

"Dead Apostles?" He asked, having heard the term a number of times that night.

"Colloquially speaking, vampires."

Homura was silent while the information sunk in. _The __Catholic__ Church vs. vampires? I think I watched that anime,_ he thought numbly to himself. "So, you're saying that the Church secretly has vampire hunters all over the world?"

"For the most part, yes. There are number places we stay away from though. England in particular comes to mind, partly because that is where the where the Clock Tower is located, and partly because of that _other_ vampire hunting organization that takes up residence there. We have a rather… rocky history with them, shall we say." The woman gave a meaningful glance at Shirou, who became indignant for some reason.

"Hey, I saw a Dead Apostle and I tried to kill it. Perfectly reasonable behavior, all things considered."

"Yes though you probably should have considered if it was in their employ first before attacking it." Nero remarked "The Burial Agency has one of their own you know. Besides, you were lucky I was with you or he would have probably eaten you."

Homura heard Shirou mutter something along the lines of "I totally could have taken him if I could regenerate", but ignored that in favor of asking the nun "If this is true, then why doesn't the world know about it? Why are magic and monsters thought to be only myth and legend?"

"Because we want to keep it that way." She replied flatly. "The short version is that the secret of the supernatural has been keep by magi since the Enlightenment for two reasons: The first is that magic is a finite resource and the more people who know how to use it, the less powerful anyone's gets. So magi have a vested interest in keeping their numbers small. The other is simply that people live happier lives not knowing the world is much darker place than it really is." She leaned back on the desk. "This of course leads to our problem with you."

The Sekirei set aside his doubts about the supposed conspiracy he was just told about to ask "What problem?"

"I shouldn't have to tell you that the secret of magic is one we would very much like to keep, so you can't tell anyone other than the rest of your kind what you learned here. However, given your species involvement with MBI, it would be next to impossible to keep it from them unless we knew for certain that none of them would talk. Can you assure me of this?"

Homura gave a frown before he answered "No. The Sekirei will do what their Ashikabi tells them to do, and we don't know what kind of people those will be." He left it unsaid that some of the Sekirei themselves might not care enough to keep the secret.

"And there's the problem. It's unacceptable to have a potentially powerful and dangerous species running around without knowing we won't tolerate it if they treat humans like cattle. Since we can't inform them, that make the simplest option to either kill all of your species or destroy MBI, and while we are cable of doing so, neither of those options will be particularly pleasant nor clean."

Homura was about to remark that killing all of the Sekirei would be a lot more difficult than the thought when he paused and thought about the other option the nun listed. "Are you serious when you say that you can destroy MBI?"

Yuika raised an eyebrow at the man's tone. "Yes, though it is not exactly our area of expertise. Why?"

"Because I would like to say I would have no problem with that course of action. Well, to be fair, I really only want to kill the CEO, Minaka Hirotro."

"Really?" Shriou said, somewhat surprised by the man's statement. "Why's that?"

"Because the man treats us like we are nothing but his toys, like pieces in some grand game of his. MBI is little more than a gilded cage for the Sekirei, and it's all that man's fault. Even the 01 saw what he was doing and broke off all ties with the company."

"The 01?" The nun asked with a questioning look.

"Oh. Umm, well, she is the strongest one among us, and probably the closest thing we have to a leader."

"Really? Do you think she can keep a secret?"

"Well, yes. I can attest that she knows the value of keeping things hidden. Why do you…" Homura began before he caught on. "You can't mean…"

"If she is as opposed to MBI as you say, she could be a valuable ally in removing the Sekirei from MBI's control." Shriou thought out loud. "Not only that, if she is the leader among your people as you say, she should be able to impress on them the importance of not screwing over the human race without having to tell the rest of them exactly why. Also, we may be able to liberate the Sekirei without having to completely destroy the company. My mother works there, so that's something to consider."

Yuika tapped her chin with her finger as she looked up at the ceiling in thought. "That… could work." She looked at Homura. "Can you arrange a meeting between us and this 01?"

"Uh," Homura said while he tried to come to terms with the sudden feeling of dread. Miya was not someone you meddled with, and he didn't like thinking of how she would respond to him asking her to talk to a bunch of people from a shady looking organization, even if the their goal was to the determent of MBI. "Well, I think I could, but-"

"Good." Yuika cut him off. "I will have to consult with my superiors, but I will advise them that to take this particular course of act." She gave a sigh. "Now if there is nothing else, I need to make some phone calls, so get the hell out of here."

"Wait!" Houmra said suddenly surprising everyone in the room. Normally he would have been glad to leave and think on everything he learn (and think of a way to tell Miya about it without her killing him), but the fiery pain that was coursing throughout his body told him that he was at his limit for how much he could ignore his reaction to Shirou. He turned to the deacon and said "There's one more thing we need to do!"

"What's that?" he asked with some confusion.

"Well, it is, you see…" Homura fumbled over the words, really not wanting admit he was reacting to a man.

Unfortunately, Nero decided to do it for him. "You wish for Shirou to wing you, yes?"

"W-WHAT?!" was the collective reaction of the other three present, though Homura was more alarmed as to how she figured it out.

The crimson clad woman gave a knowing smirk and explained while gesturing. "Ever since you laid eyes on my Praetor, you have been constantly blushing and looking away from like an infatuated school girl. Now that I know how mating works with your species, it is clear that you have chosen him to be your Ashikabi. I suppose I should not be surprised. With a man like my Shirou, it was only a matter of time before he started attracting more consorts." She gave a theatrical sigh with a sweep of her hand. "I shall allow this, though you should know that I am the legal wife and you will be my Praetor's mistress. Or whatever the equivalent is these days."

In an odd moment of synchronicity, both Shirou and Homura face palmed. This was going to get worse before it got better.

* * *

The train pulled into the Shin Tokyo Railway station at ten o'clock sharp, and a number of passengers disembarked. Some were the regular commuters while others were visiting for the day, and some happened to have other reasons for coming to the technologically advanced city.

One such passenger belonging to the latter category. She was a young woman with flowing black hair that traveled part way down her back. She was somewhat short in stature (though not as short as she used to be), and if you got close enough you could see that her right eye was a slightly darker shade of blue than her left. She held on to a simple rolling travel bag and stopped to look up at news report on a wall mounted television.

"… when eye witnesses reported that the building, which had almost been completely ignited by this point, suddenly seemed to put itself out on its own. The fire department states that this was due to a new, experimental fire suppression technology which had been installed in the building prior to contractor running out of money for the refit. The fire department also stated that that any claims of arson are unfounded, and that this was a case of faulty wiring. Some witnesses state that they saw people fighting in the building prior to and during the fire, but no evidence has supported such claims. Now, on to weather…"

Rin Tohsaka frowned at the television for a moment before she shook her head. "No, it couldn't be him."

Turing on her heel, she walked out of the station and onto the streets towards her hotel. Normally, Rin would have had no interest in coming to Shin Tokyo, as she was certainly busy enough back at the Clock Tower. However, in recent years and due to some very careful managing on her part she had regained a sizable portion of her family's fortune which had been lost by that phony priest. As such, she was now ready to make business deals with gem providers to once again supply her family (which was just her at the moment) with the materials needed to perform her brand of magecraft. Shin Tokyo happened to have one of the largest artificial gem manufacturing labs in the world, and it was only a few hours by train away from her estate in Fuyuki. She didn't know how artificial gems would compare to natural ones when it came to magecraft, but they were definitely cheaper. She had come to the city to test the quality of the gems, and if they were good enough, work out a deal.

As she walked down the street, Rin was glad that she had the sense to wear a coat that day. It was the later part of spring, but the temperature had been somewhat cold of late, and she had decided to walk to her hotel as it was only a few blocks from the station. She wanted everything about this trip to be as efficient as possible given everything she still had to do back in London. She would be in and out of the city with no complications.

Rin was mentally going over her itinerary when some shouting got her attention. Confused, she looked up in the direction of the noise and was greeted by the utterly baffling sight of a woman in a shrine maiden outfit tumbling through the air directly towards her.

"Ah! Get out of the way!" The woman screamed frantically.

Unfortunately, Rin was too stunned by the odd sight to move. The only thought she had before the woman crashed into her was a dry _No complications. Right._


	4. Chapter 4

I gave a sideways glance at the man walking next to me. "Are you alright, Homura? You're looking kind of nervous."

"W-what? No no, it's just that I've had a lot to take in over the past few days." He replied shifting uncomfortably. "Anyway, the inn is right around the block."

I gave a small grunt in confirmation. It had been a few days since I first ran into the alien and he asked me to wing him, and this was the first time I had talked to him in person since the incident. The both of us had decided to give each other some space after he had explained the… specifics of his particular case. Namely, that in spite of him reacting to another man, he was still heterosexual. Needless to say, Homura was decidedly confused and conflicted about the whole thing, and I had no idea just what he felt about me. I suppose I didn't really know how to feel about it either, suddenly having a person you just met be bonded to you for life. However, while it may have been inappropriate, I did feel a sense of relief that Homura didn't seem to hold a romantic interest in me. I don't think I would have known how to respond to that, thanks in no small part to the fact that I loved Nero far more than the man I had just met.

Although, I had to admit, the winging itself was a rather beautiful display, and not just because it involved fire either. All we had to do was kiss (and to exchange a little prana, as it seemed to function like a much lesser prana exchange ritual), and then several pillars of fire erupted from his back that gave the vague impression of a pair of wings. Given this and my own elemental leanings, I suppose it was a small wonder that his biology chose me to react to.

I gave a shrug. "It's alright if you are. I mean, I had hoped that things would be sorted out between us by now, but that was just wishful thinking. Anyways, if it makes you feel better I'm feeling kind of nervous too."

"No, I'm not ner- wait, what are you nervous about?"

"Meeting the 01." I said with a grimace. "I'll admit, I'm not exactly the negotiating type." When the higher ups back at the Vatican had gotten back to us and said that I was to be the one talking to the unofficial 'Type Sekirei', both Yuika and I weren't particularly thrilled. I'll admit that it made some sense, as they reasoned since I had bonded with one of her own kind, that it would put me in a better position to relate to her. Still, I had so far made a career of killing things rather than talking to them, so I was rather worried that I would screw up and accidently start a war.

"That is what my instruction has been for, Praetor." Nero said from my other side. "Though if you truly feel inadequate, I as an emperor can skillfully handle this matter."

Looking over at her, I said "I appreciate the gesture, but between the two of us, I am the only one who is officially affiliated with the Church. Given that and the fact that I'm the Ashikabi, it will be meaningless if I don't do it myself." I gave her a tired sigh. "Besides, with that outfit, there's a good chance that she'll mistake you for a Sekirei."

Nero gave a grin a struck a pose. "When in Rome, do as the Romans. Or in this case, when in Shin Tokyo, dress as the Sekirei." The emperor had changed from her usual ensemble to a new one she had created in the past few days, this one blue in a rare deviation from her favored colors. The 'dress' (though it could barely be called as such) started with was looked to be a skirt that was completely missing the front half and hung at the middle of her hips rather than her waist. It was only held up by virtue of being connected to the completely visible garter belt of the same blue color. The addition of knee high boots managed to draw all the attention to the waist area as well. Above this, she had a vest with a rather large circle on the chest which showed a generous amount of cleavage along with her midriff. On top of this was a swath of silk which served as the sleeves and a small cape that came down to mid-back. The silk was a much light shade of blue, and had designs of flowers and water upon it.

When Nero does something, she really doesn't do it halfway.

Really, I blame Homura for this. When he had given a description of how the Sekirei typically dress, the little emperor had taken this as a challenge of sort, and her inner fashionista was unleashed onto the world once more. A lesser man than myself might have held a small grudge to the fire Sekirei for undoing all the work I had put in to convince her to start wearing normal clothes, but I was above that. However, I was not above holding a small grudge for what was going to happen to my wallet because of it.

Homura's nervousness seemed to increase at looking at her outfit for some reason, though I couldn't imagine why. In any case, I did not get the chance to ask as a moment later he said "Ah, we're here."

Indeed, we had had arrived at what looked like an old style Japanese house, which was in stark contrast to the more modern buildings around it. It didn't quite look like an inn, but it was certainly close enough that the owner had no problems converting it to one. However, this observation took a back seat to my magic sense, which was picking up three creatures inside the house. I had come to associate the Sekirei with a sort of binary smell; a honey sent that was inherent to all I had sensed so far, and a secondary smell which was more personal to the one in question (Homura's secondary smell was that of smoke, for instance.) At the moment, I could tell that all three had the honey scent that indicated that they were Sekirei, though I couldn't make out anything else at the moment other that one of them was much stronger than the other two.

Homura led us through the door, announcing "Miya! I'm back with the guests I'd said I'd bring!"

A somewhat tall woman with long lavender hair emerged from a door in the hallway, wearing what looked to be a purple shrine maiden's outfit. She additionally wore an old fashioned apron, so I could assume that she had just come from the kitchen. "Ara, it seems that I have fished dinner right on time, then." She said in a melodic voice. She gave us an apprising look. "I am Miya Asama, landlady of the Izumo House."

The woman was also the owner of the strongest scent in the house, and now that I was close, I could tell her scent was much more complicated than any other Sekirei I had encountered thus far. The strongest things I could pick up from her were blood and… regret?

_I really hope I'm not in over my head_, I thought.

With all of the decorum I could muster, I gave a formal bow to the creature in front of me. "Greetings. I am Shriou Kotomine Sahashi, Deacon of the Holy Church of Rome, and Ashikabi of Homura." I gestured to my left. "And this is Nero, my associate and wife. I am here on behalf of the Church to discuss terms of the relationship between itself and the Sekirei race. It is an honor to meet you, 01 of the Sekirei." There. That should be a sufficiently respectful opening. Seeing as how I prone to getting rather… animated at time. I had to make sure that I wouldn't lose my cool no matter what happened.

Unfortunately, I was very quickly thrown for a loop when the woman simply crinkled her eyes and said with a pleasant smile "Ara? Sekirei? 01? What is all that that?"

I practically fell on my face has my train of thought was derailed at this. "Wait, what?! What do you mean 'What is all that'? I spent a whole hour practicing that greeting so I wouldn't screw it up and that's how respond?!"

I thought I heard Nero plam her face, but I decidedly ignored it.

Homura, now switching from nervous to panicked, said "W-wait! Miya i-isn't even a Sekirei! She's just the landlady and-"

I gave the fire Sekirei a flat look. "Homura, I can sense Sekirei, remember? Also, you're a terrible liar."

Homura blinked before putting his palm to his face. "Oh right. I can believe that I forgot you can do that. There goes that plan."

"Plan?" I said, a small amount of annoyance leaking into my voice. "And just what plan did you have in store for me?"

He looked sheepishly off to the side. "Well, I was going to tell you to wait for the 01 to show up while Miya had the chance to get to know you before letting herself be known."

"Ah, but it seems you didn't think things through, Homura-san," Miya said, her smile taking on a somewhat predatory look. "Perhaps I should punish you for your thoughtlessness." As she said this, I swear I could see a sort of dark aura form around her. It looked to be formed of pure malice pulled from the darkest corners of the universe. It was kind of fascinating, actually.

"Gah!" Homura screamed. "I'm sorry! I'll be more careful in the future! You don't have to do that!"

I idly wondered if that meant there was more to this technique than I was currently seeing, but I didn't find out as the landlady seemed to find this satisfactory and the aura diminished. She turned back to me, her eyes crinkled and a smile on her face. "I must apologize if all this seemed rude, but when Homura-san told me about you, it seemed like you were from some kind of deranged cult!" she said cheerfully. "I mean, a secret order of sorcerers and vampire hunters? That just sounds like a bunch of poor fools deluding themselves."

I gave a scowl at her obvious condescension. I retrospect, it did make some sense that she wanted to screen the people who were making outrageous claims before actually meeting them. However, I was somewhat irked by how she was treating this whole matter like it was so silly act put on by a child. So, I acted a little impulsively.

I gave a quick mutter of Latin under my breath, and upon raising my hands in front of me, small streams of fire began to dance between my fingertips. They weren't much larger than candle flames, but there were a large number of them moving in a somewhat complicated pattern in the air as they began to move around my body.

"I assure you that my organization is not, as you put it, as deranged cult." I said, my eyes burning brightly and voice taking a harder edge than it probably should have. "We have been protecting humanity from the darkness for over a thousand years, and we have gotten very good at our job. Make no mistake, the lives of all those of your race are at stake here, so I would appreciated it if you took this seriously. Now, are you or are you not the 01?"

It was a subtle thing, but Miya had become still at my little display, her body shifting into a stance more suited to combat. Her eyes widened from their crinkled state and for the first time she looked at me with all of her focus. It was a heavy, oppressive thing, the likes of which I had only felt from other Servants during the Holy Grail War.

After a long few moments where I was starting to wonder if I had gone too far and Nero would have to bail me out (again), the landlady gave a short nod of her head. "Yes. 01, Miya Asama."

I gave her a tooth smile. "Excellent. Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

I spent the next half hour or so giving Miya a basic rundown of the Church, as well as the various other important factions, like the Mage's Association and the Dead Apostle Ancestors. I tried to be a thorough as possible to impress upon her the seriousness of the topic. By the time I had finished, diner had been finish and it had gotten dark outside.

The landlady gave me an even look. "All of this is very hard to believe. Quite frankly, I'm not sure if I should, or at the very least inform you that you could be wrong about certain things."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I will admit that this is not the first time my kind has visited this planet, but the second. The first was many centuries ago, and the lineage of those Sekirei has spread throughout the population. Isn't it possible that the powers and creatures you describe could have result from some kind of mutation of the Sekirei genes, and your people have just used 'magic' as a way of explaining it?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Just how long ago was it? Specifically."

Miya put her finger to her lips in thought. "I am not sure. All I know is that it has been many centuries. Maybe a millennia."

For the first time since I started my explanation, Nero spoke up. "That is not far enough back, I am afraid. I can personally attest to battling great beasts, communing with gods, and wondrous magic beyond anything most have ever seen."

The strongest Sekirei arched an eyebrow at this. "Oh? And just why do you think you own personal experiences relate to anything that had happened that long ago?"

"I believe it's because she thinks she's Emperor Nero of Rome." Homura said with a frown. I blinked in surprise for a moment before I realized it wasn't too large a leap in logic for him to make. The blonde woman had repeatedly referred to herself an emperor, and given her name and how she just spoke of seeing things as if she was in ancient times, it looked like Homura had guessed who she really was. Or rather, guess what he thought she thought she was.

Nero, of course, would not stand for such an implication and sat up straight, bringing all of the authority her small frame had to bear. "I _am_ Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. I will not stand for any claims to the contrary."

"That's impossible." Homura scoffed. "I've heard a lot of crazy things these past few days, but there is no way you could be almost two thousand years old. Not to mention the fact that Nero was a man."

"Well, actually, the historians of the time did not take kindly to the idea of a woman being emperor, so 'she' became a 'he' in the texts." I said while scratching the back of my head. "Also, if you want to get technical, she's not two thousand years old so much as a soul which is normally kept removed from the time stream but was pulled back in for a secret war between magi and has stuck around due to my exploiting a loop hole."

"… What." Homura said flatly.

I gave a sigh. "Look, it's really complicated and has nothing to do with what we're talking about right now, so let's move on." I turned back to the landlady. "I'm not sure if there is any I could do at the moment (that isn't too drastic) to convince you right now, but there is a member of my organization who is of a similar age that will likely want to meet you at some point." When my superiors had gotten back to me, they had made mention that they would send Merem along as soon as possible to get a more thorough analysis of the Sekirei, but they were unsure when that would be as the Dead Apostle Ancestor was currently on an artifact hunt in the Congo. "I'm sure he'll be able to make a much better case than I could. For the time being Miya-dono, could you please humor me as regardless of how everything on this world came about, it is still quite real."

Miya twisted her mouth slightly before she said "Very well," though I could tell that she didn't think this was over. "What is it exactly that you want with me?"

"There are three main things which my organization wants you to know." I said. "The first two are rules while the third is more of a request."

Her mouth twisted some more. "It would be unwise to think that you can give me orders."

"Then think of them as rules of the house." I replied bluntly. "The church doesn't mind sharing the planet with other species, but we are not as weak and harmless as you might think. The first rule is quite simple: you are not to make any hostile gestures towards humanity, save for reasonable responses to provocation. From what I can tell of you, this should not be a problem."

Miya's posture softened somewhat. "Well, I suppose that is reasonable enough."

"Good. The second is that you are responsible for keeping the rest of the Sekirei from doing harm to humanity as well."

She blinked in surprise at this. "What? Why am I responsible for that?"

"To put it simply, we can't have the majority of Sekirei know about the secret of magic. There are too many unknowns, which is to say nothing about their Ashikabi or MBI." I thought I saw the slightest hint of a frown at the mention of the company, but I pressed on. "However, it is also unacceptable for your species to not know that there are rules for living on this planet with us. Therefore, you are to act in your capacity as leader of your race to keep them in line without having to explain exactly why."

The eldest Sekirei gave this a moment's thought as she shifted uncomfortably. "I would rather not have to draw attention to myself. That has caused me… problems in the past." Her eyes flicked to the side as if looking at something, but I did not understand the significance of it.

"Well, if you could somehow do so discreetly, then that would be fine, though I don't see a way at the moment. The important thing is that the Sekirei need a very clear and good threat as to why they should not mess with the human race. Since we can't reveal ourselves, that makes you the best option."

"And what if I chose not to?"

My features hardened. "In that case, the Church will take matters in to its own hands. Make no mistake, if one of your kind becomes a threat, we will put it down. If too many Sekirei decide to follow this course, we will have no choice but to end the Sekrei species."

Miya was taken aback by the harsh picture I had just given her. "That seems drastic to say the least. Doesn't your Chuch have a doctrine of forgiveness?"

At this, I simply shrugged. "Most only consider the rules to apply to humans, but whatever the case I can assure you that we don't want to take such an action." Well, most of us anyway. Like any organization there were a number of sub-groups within the Church that had their own agendas and prerogatives. When I was given my orders to talk to the 01, there were hints that some had wanted me assigned the task in hopes that my more… well known nature would cause an incident and give us an excuse to issue an Exterminatus order.

But there was no need to tell her that. I continued "We simply want to give you a chance to keep order in your own house as it were before we have to intervene. The Sekirei as a whole will not be blamed for the actions of one, but we will only let it happen so many times before…"

There was a much longer moment of silence after this as the landlady considered things. After a minute, she finally said "What was the last thing you wanted? You said that this was a request rather than a rule."

"The Church would like your assistance in removing the Sekirei from MBI's control." Her eyes widened in surprise, but she said nothing so I continued. "To be honest, the company's discovery of the Sekirei might not lead them to the secret of magic, so if we knew for a fact that this would happen and that the Sekirei are non-hostile, the Church would have decided not to get involved at all. However, as it stands we cannot take that risk, especially given the power and influence of MBI. As this is an area which the Church is not experienced in, we would like to formally ask for your assistance in this matter so that it does not result with excess collateral damage."

"Think about it Miya," Homura urged. "Think of how much better it would be for us if we didn't have that bastard using us like toys. We won't have to subject ourselves to that mockery that is the Sekirei Plan. If Takahito were still here, he'd-"

The effect was instantaneous. Miya ceased looking pensive and brought her gaze on the fire Sekirei, anger clear in her eyes. "Speaking of my late husband to manipulate me into a decision is forbidden, Homura!" With those words that aura of darkness and malice returned, but it was not alone. Behind the landlady appeared a Hannya mask, its eyes weeping blood and emanating whispers of hopelessness and despair.

The already pale Homura became even more white, and shrank back from Miya saying "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that! I'll never do it again!"

The technique was maintained for a few moments longer before it dissipated, and I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I wasn't exactly sure of the subtext of what just transpired, but I could tell that things had gone toward a veritable minefield. MBI was apparently a sensitive subject for Miya, and if she did indeed have a husband and he had been connected to MBI somehow…

The silence stretched on, no one present knowing where to go from there. Thankful, before I could say something that might have made things worse, the dining room door slid open. "Ne, what's all this yelling about? I was trying to nap." The newcomer (judging by my sense of smell) was one of the other Sekirei in the house. She was of average height, rather well endowed, and had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Seeing a how she was dressed in nothing but a pair of panties and a tank top, it was easy to believe that she had been sleeping up until this moment.

The new comer looked around and saw the clear plates on the table. "Aw man, I sleep right through diner!" She them turned her attention to me and Nero. Well, really just Nero. "Holy crap, your outfit is amazing!" It seems her surprise at finding new people in the inn was quickly overwritten in favor of awe for the emperor's new clothes.

Nero, never missing a chance to receive adoration, stood and stuck a pose for the woman to give a better view. "Of course they are amazing. I designed them." She said with a radiant smile. "I will admit that the color scheme is somewhat different that what I normally use, but the results are magnificent nonetheless."

The other woman's eyes widened at this. "Whoa, really? I happen make costumes myself, but that is something else. You have to tell me how you did it!" The Sekirei walked forward to inspect Nero's attire further. "I'm Uzume, by the way."

The two continued to chat about clothes, completely destroying the tension that had settled over the room moments prior. As they talked Miya gave a sigh and turned back to me. "It would seem that we are unable to continue our conversation for tonight. If it is alright with you, I would like to time to think this over. You have given me a great deal that I need to consider."

"Yes, of course." I said, not wishing to press the issue. Everything I had seen so far of the strongest Sekirei told me that she was not one to take being pressured well. "Just remember to tell no one about what we said until you have come to a decision."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." She said with a wave of her hand. She then crinkled her eyes and gave a small smile. "And if there was anyone who happened to be listening in on our conversation, they would also keep their mouths shut if they knew what was good for them."

I glanced over at Uzume, but the new Sekirei didn't seem to hear the landlady's comment as she was too busy discussing fabrics with my Servant. I looked back at Miya with a questioning glance, but she simply continued to give a knowing smile.

Things settled down a bit after that. Miya brought out tea while everyone in the room chatter amicably with each other. Nero and Uzume talked about fashion, while Homura and I talked about our pasts (minus the Holy Grail War, as I thought we all had enough drama for the night), Miya made the occasional remark about how revealing Nero's outfit was, and Nero completely failed to recognize that Miya was saying her outfit was inappropriate.

After a while, I remembered something that Homura said. "Homura, what's the Sekirei Plan?"

"Eh?!" he remarked in surprise. "How do you not know that?"

"Well, why would I? I just heard about it from you a few minutes ago. Is it something to do with what MBI has planned for the Sekirei?"

"Well, yes, but you should have gotten a call by now explaining this to you."

I stared at him blankly for a moment before I remember something. "Oh, was that what that was? I was called by an unknown number yesterday, so I didn't answer it. When the number called another five times after that, I got annoyed and blocked it."

Homura looked back at me for a second before he was overcome by a fit of giggles. "I bet that pissed him off."

"Pissed who off? And what…?" I trailed off as two of my senses picked up something new at the same time. The first was the smell of a new Sekirei, though it seemed to be approaching… from the air? The second was a sound. "Does anyone else hear that? It sounds like screaming."

The rest of the room fell silent, and indeed everyone heard the faint sound of screaming, though it was quickly getting louder. The lot of us quickly got up and made out way to the porch. The door slid open just in time to see something crash into a tree in the yard from above before tumbling to the ground.

When the dust cleared, the something turned out to be two somethings, namely two women. The first was a busty brunette also in a shine maiden's outfit, though her skirt was so short it might have been a ruffled belt. The second was a dark haired woman whose face I couldn't see, partly because she was turned away from me, and partly because her face was making use of the other woman's chest as a makeshift airbag.

When the dark haired one managed to pull her head up, there was a brief pause as she looked down at her current situation. Then she began to rant with a _very_ familiar voice. "Y-y-you idiot! Don't you ever think before you do anything?! Frist you make me late for my meeting with the gem lab when I had to save you so I have to reschedule, then you get me kicked out of my hotel room as you don't tell me your 'winging' light show happens to destroy anything behind you at the time, and now you almost get us both killed by jumping so high you can't land! I swear, if you weren't the find of the century I would-" During her rant, she had been picking herself up and dusting herself off. She stopped ranting when she turned and saw all the people on the porch looking at her. More accurately, she stopped when she saw me.

"Shirou?!" Rin Tohsaka exclaimed in surprise.

Due to the sheer unexpected nature of what had just happened and that I was suddenly seeing a friend I hadn't seen in person for years, I immediately blurted out the nickname I had given my old childhood friend. "Tsun-tsun!"

There was a pause. Then a tick mark formed on Rin's head. Then an almost nostalgic feeling of doom crept over me. "Shir-ou!" As she ground out the syllables, her right eye began to change color from blue to an ominous glowing red. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?!"

I back away nervously as I put up my hands. "N-now Rin, I didn't mean to-" I didn't get any farther before my instincts told me to move, and I just barely dodged the freaking _laser_ which shot out of her eye!

That was new.

I knew I was immune to heat from fire, but I wasn't sure if that applied to lasers as well. I didn't want to find out at the moment, so I ran, with the small magus in pursuit shouting about how she would punish me for my insolence.

It was just like old times.

* * *

Akitsu sat on the ground, her back to the fountain and a blood soaked lab coat her only claim to modesty.

Not that she cared. She couldn't bring herself to care about anything. She was broken. Hollow. Useless.

She didn't know how long she sat there. It didn't matter. At some point, she became aware that someone was trying to talk to her.

"Ano, are you all right?" The voice said.

Automatic, Akitsu replied in a soft whisper "I am broken." She didn't even bother to look at the person. "I'm a failure."

There was a long pause. "What do you mean?" There was something in the voice. Concern? No, that can't be right, why would anyone show concern to a scrap like her.

"No one would want me. I'm worthless."

There was another long pause before the ice Sekirei became dimly aware that the person had sat down next to her. Then, the voice said. "I know… exactly how you feel."

There was something in the voice that brought Akitsu out of her emptiness. Empathy. But how? Paying more attention, she tilted her head slighty to see the helm of the other person's skirt, finally aware enough to realize the person was female.

The other woman continued. "There was a time I thought I was worthless. Tainted. Ruined by my so called 'family'. No one could ever want, ever love someone who had gone through all the things I had, after being violated in mind and body for so long."

She gave a longing sigh. "Then I met him. At first I thought he only liked me because he didn't know. But when he found out, he didn't shun me or kill me. He did everything in his power to fix me. Purify me. And he did. Now I'm looking for him, so I can thank him for giving me my life back."

Akitsu's eyes slowly trailed up the woman's body until they came to her face. She had a kind face, though it was somewhat strange when put next to the long white hair and red eyes that held no pupils. She could also make out faint marks, like erratic squiggles that extended from the lower left half of her face down to her neck and past her collar. They looked like old scars.

Or burn marks.

The woman titled her head and smile pleasantly. "How about we find our person that makes us better together?"


	5. When Shirou met Rin

Kotomine ushered the boy along to the front door of the Tohsaka estate. In the few months the child had been under his care, the boy had very seldom been allowed to leave the church. Unbeknownst to the child, the priest had plans for the boy, and he had thought to start by isolating him to make him more pliable. However, Kotomine hadn't anticipated just how… energetic the boy could get when he was cooped up for too long. He had seemed harmless enough at first, barely moving or speaking after bringing him back to the church from the fire. But as soon as the boy recovered…

Kotomine made a mental note to install a new sprinkler system in the main hall. He had no idea how the kid had managed to set the confession box on fire.

"So, what's so important about this place?" The boy named Shirou asked as he eyed the large mansion in front of him. He was a little antsy, be also eager to finally be out and about.

"It is the home of another I happen to be the guardian of." The priest replied and he unlocked the door and the two stepped inside. "She happens to be about your age. I thought it would be good for the both of you to become acquainted."

_And get out of my hair for a little while_, he thought to himself.

Rin came down the stairs a few moments later, no doubt alerted to their presence by the estate wards. "Oh, it's you. And what have you brought into my house?" She said, eyeing the boy.

Kotomine was growing accustomed to the girl's dismissive greeting of him. Ever since the death of her father, Rin had been growing increasingly aloof and cold, which was in stark contrast to the rather sweet girl she used to be. The thought made him suppress a smile. "This, Miss Tohsaka, is the one I took in after the fire. His name is Shirou."

"Clearly." She gave a huff as she looked at the burn marks on the boy's face. "Though I honestly don't understand why you're doing so. You don't seem to be particularly good at raising me."

"Be that as it may, I believe that there is potential in this one, as he has surprisingly good magic circuits. I am planning on training him to become an Executor."

"Oy, can you stop talking like I'm not here?" Shirou grumbled.

Rin spared an annoyed glance him before turning back to the priest. "Well, whatever. You still haven't explained what you're doing here."

"I thought that the two of you could have a… oh what's the word… playdate."

"What?!" Rin said in shock. "Why would I need spend time with him?"

"I dunno, maybe so I could teach you some manners?" the boy said sarcastically.

Before the Tohsaka heiress could get any angrier, Kotomine spoke up. "It is because you need to spend more time among your peers, Miss Tohsaka. Your dedication to magecraft is admirable, but it would be unbecoming of one of your stature to become a shut in."

The small magus's eyes narrowed. "You're not just doing this so you don't have to take care of him for a few hours, are you?"

"Of course not." He lied smoothly. "Now why don't the two of you run outside and… do whatever it is you kids do these days."

He ignored both their protests and ushered the children outside. He planned to enjoy the next few hours of quiet to himself.

* * *

"And this is the estate gardens." Rin said primly, waving her hand in the direction of the carefully arranged flower bed. After the priest had all but thrown them out of the house, and as neither one had any idea what to do with themselves, Rin had opted to show the boy around the grounds. "I'm sure someone such as yourself has never seen such a lovey garden."

"Probably," Shirou admitted while he looked at the plants wild mild interest. "I haven't really been outside this church, so this is the only one I've seen."

"Hmp. Well, then be grateful that I decided to show it to you."

"Yeah, yeah," The boy responded, waving his hand. "Hey, how fast do you think the whole thing will burn if you put a spark the center?"

"What!?" Rin yelled incredulously. "Why would anyone do such a thing?!"

"… to watch it burn?" Shirou said slowly, like he was saying something that should be blatantly obvious.

"W-w-why you… pyromaniac!" She yelled. "Maybe that phony priest was right to keep you locked up in that church!"

A look of surprise crossed the boy's face before it settled into a scowl. "Hey, what gives?! I was just trying to make conversation. You know, be friendly?"

"I don't need a crazy little delinquent like you to be my friend!"

"Oh really? 'Cause all you've done since we met is talk down to me. Since you seem to be angry all the time, I'd be surprised if you made any friends at all! You can't talk to people like that, even if you are really pretty!"

Rin was about to lay into the uncouth boy when she realized what he said. "W-what did you just say?"

"I said you can't talk to-"

"No, not that the last part!" She shouted.

"I said you are really pretty!" He shouted back, though he was clearly confused.

"…Really?"

"Well, yeah." He replied uncertainly. "Why?"

Rin hesitated. Only her mother had ever told her that she looked pretty. Hearing it from someone else was… oddly pleasant. "I… no one other than my mother has ever called me pretty before."

It was now Shirou's turn to look incredulous. "What? How's that possible? It's blatantly obvious that you are. I mean, your eyes look like the sea, your hair is probably the blackest thing I've ever seen," he said, causally listing off her qualities like it was not romantic in the slightest. He stopped and peered at her. "Hey, your face just went all red. Are you feeling alright?"

This observation only proceeded to make the reddening worse and the young magus quickly spun around to hide her face. "I'm fine! Just stop talking!"

"Uh, okay." Shirou said, and he promptly fell into silence and watched the girl in front of him with curiosity as she calmed herself down.

Eventually, she turned back around. "Perhaps I was… hasty in saying that you couldn't be my friend. I suppose that we could… give it a shot."

Shirou had no idea what had just caused the sudden shift in the girl's attitude, but he decided not to question it. "Alright! If we're friends, then we need to make it official!"

Rin titled her head to the side. "How do we do that?"

Shirou opened his mouth and put up his finger… before looking the side sheepishly and scratching his head. "I have no idea." Rin face palmed as Shirou muttered to himself for a few moments longer before saying "I've got it! We'll give each other nicknames!"

"Nicknames?"

"Yep! Friends have nicknames for each other, so that's how we'll know its official!" He then scratched his chin as he looked at her. "But it can't just be anything. It has to be something that sums you up. Something that means 'you'."

As he looked at her, Rin felt an odd bit of anticipation. What would her nickname be? Would it be about how pretty she was? Or how skilled? Or maybe…

"I got it!" Shirou said with a snap of his fingers. "I'ma call you Tsun-tsun!"

* * *

"And then she punched me in the face!" Shriou exclaimed to Kotomine, holding a bloody tissue under his nose.

The priest gave a sigh. "I suppose it was too much to ask for that you would stay out of trouble for a while." He said as they walked to the front gate.

"It's not like I was trying to cause trouble! She got all weird after I said she was pretty, and then she said we were friends, but then she punched me when I gave her a nickname!" the boy sighed. "Then again, I suppose she is Tsun-tsun."

Kotomine arched an eyebrow at this. "Indeed? You might not want to call her that the next time you're here."

"What? No way am I ever coming here again. Rin clearly hates me."

"Are you sure?"

The boy gave the older man a flat look and guested to his nose. "She punched me. In the face. I think I know enough to know that means the person who did it hates me." He said in a tone like he was explaining something to an idiot.

"Hey! Pryo!" The two males turned around to see Rin standing in the doorway of the mansion.

"What, you mean me?" Shriou asked.

"Of course I mean you." She replied. "I will expect you here next Saturday at noon sharp, understand?"

"Wait, why?"

"Because it's important for friends to meet regularly." Rin said, as if stating the obvious.

Shirou now looked completely lost. "Wha.. b-but if we're friends, why did you-"

"I will not stand it if you are late. Now, enjoy your evening." And with that, she promptly stepped back inside and closed the door.

Shriou stood motionless save for his jaw, which was soundlessly moving up and down, giving him a completely flabbergasted looked. After a minute, he finally turned to Kotomine and asked in a quiet voice. "Father, are all girls crazy?"

The older man simply arched an eyebrow. "Why do you think I became a priest?"

Kotomine couldn't help but smile at the boy's groan of utter despair.


	6. Chapter 5

"So, you and Shirou went to high school together?" Miya asked.

"And middle school as well." Rin said while primly sipping on her tea. "We have known each other since we were 7."

Rin had eventually calmed down enough to stop trying to blast a hole in me and had subsequently needed to introduce herself to the rest of the Inzumo House and explain how she had got here. Apparently she had come to town to work out a deal with a gem lab, but wound up encountering another one of the Sekirei, Musubi. After a series of wacky hijinks that got her kicked out of her hotel room, it seemed that the rather excitable Sekirei took Rin and jump as high as she could in the air for some reason, causing the two of them to come crashing down in the yard in pure coincidence.

"And what do you do now? You said something about a gem lab earlier."

"I do mostly scholastic work and research in London. My primary field of study is geology, particularly gems and minerals. I wanted to get my hands on some artificial ones so I could do a comparison." Rin replied. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it most certain didn't tell just how she planned to use those gems.

It was at this point that Uzume decided to speak up. "Uh, this is fascinating and all, but do you think you could tell us just how the hell you have laser eyes of doom?"

I could see Rin hesitate for a moment. I had managed to quickly pull her aside and give a very basic version of what was happening in Shin Tokyo before everyone else had started asking questions. I could tell by the way she looked at me that there were a great many things she wanted to talk to me about, but those would have to wait. In the meantime, she at least knew that not everyone in the room knew about magic, so she would have to think carefully before responding.

She eventually gave a shrug. "It's some of my research which has paid off." She reached up and lightly tapped the surface of her right eye twice. Uzume winced at first, but then she heard the touches make a distinctive 'clink clink' sound on contact. "I lost my eye about five years ago in an accident. I used to have a glass eye, but recently I was able to make a more functional one on my own."

_Functional indeed_, I thought dryly. In one of her most recent letters to me, she had mentioned that she had finally managed to make that Mystic Code she had been developing to replace the eye she lost during the Holy Grail War. Looking closely, I figured that it was a very finely cut gemstone with a hollow center and probably some kind of white lining. It must have irked her to no end that she couldn't find a gem that exactly matched her eye color. In any case, she had mentioned that she added some 'extra features' to it, though she had neglected to mention what they were. Given what I had just seen, I was starting to think I had rubbed off on her.

"Ah! I didn't know that!" Musubi exclaimed. "I'm sorry, Rin!" She then proceeded to latch on to the small magus in a hug to show her sympathy. Oddly enough, Rin didn't immediately shake her off.

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Uzume exclaimed. "You actually made a functioning fake eye that shoots lasers?! Howdya do it?"

"Sorry, that's a secret of the trade."

"I'll bet." Homura said with a snort, undoubtedly figuring the real reason for it. "But why did you put a laser in it?"

Rin looked at the man dumbly. "Uh, because laser eye?" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yep, I definitely rubbed off on her.

"Right…" the fire Sekirei said slowly. "Tell me, just what was this accident that caused you to lose your eye?"

Both Rin and I scowled at the man for his question, and not just because it was in bad taste. So far, Homura had proved to be fairly perceptive, and my comment about a secret magus war when I was talking about Nero was likely still fresh in his mind. I would tell him about it later if he really wanted, I just wish he wasn't so focused on it now in front of Uzume.

Thankfully, Nero came to our rescue, though I think it was just a matter of good timing rather than intention. Since we had gone back inside, she had ignored Rin's conversation with Miya in favor of exchanging a few more comment with Uzume and staring at the woman thoughtfully. It was at that moment she suddenly got up, picked up the very surprised woman and pushed her next to me. "Praetor, I have come to a decision. You are to wing Uzume immediately."

I allowed myself a moment to be baffled by this sudden order before I said "And what, pray tell, brought you to that conclusion?"

The emperor took a lecture's pose. "Firstly, a man like you is bound to attract more of these Sekirei, so it would be prudent to insure that your new harem has the proper balance. Secondly, while I love you, there are certain things I miss from my wife Octavia, things which this one most certainly possess." She gestured to Uzume's generous cleavage. "Thirdly and most importantly, her skill with cloth will aid me in making even grander and more striking designs to bring my vision into contemporary fashion."

I gave a massive groan as I rubbed the side of my head. "Nero, even ignoring the fact that I'm pretty sure she isn't reacting to me, I am not entering a lifelong bond that involves mental restructuring with the woman just because you want to make better dresses."

"It is not just dresses I plan to make." She replied, as if _that_ was the biggest problem I had with it. "Besides, I will need her help if I am to make them quickly and cheaply."

"That's not the – cheaply you say?" I said as I stroked my chin. Well, if she could keep me from going bankrupt from funding Nero's projects, maybe I should give this some consideration.

Don't look at me like that. A man needs to have priories.

Before I could give it any real thought though, Uzume interjected "Uh, while I'm flattered, I already have an Ashikabi."

"Awww," Nero and I said in disappointment, though I imagine for different reasons.

Homura grumbled. "Great now can we get back to-" And that was as far as he got before a ringing noise started to emanate from Rin's person.

I had to admit, the number of timely interruption that had occurred today were stating to border on the statistically absurd, but I was willing to let it slide given how helpful they had been so far. I gave my old friend a curious glance as she took a cell phone out of her pocket. "Since when do you own a cell phone?" I asked. Magi weren't exactly known for keeping up to date with technology, and Rin was no exception. Hell, I myself wasn't particularly technologically inclined either. I just owned a cell phone out of the sheer convenience of being able to call anyone no matter where I was.

"Recently." She replied while rolling her eyes. "Apparently, it's rather difficult to do business in this day and age without one, and my estates aren't going to take care of themselves." She then carefully tapped her phone and put it to her ear.

Not that it was necessary. "Du dudu daaaa!" A voice all but shouted from the phone. Rin winced away from it as it continued. "Congratulations on winging the number 88! I would have called earlier, but I was indisposed."

"Oi! Stop yelling into the phone, I can hear you just fine!" Rin yelled back.

"I'm not yelling, I'm using video chat, idiot." Came the amused replied.

"What the hell is that? And who are you?"

"Just pull the phone away from you and look into the camera."

"Phones don't have cameras! And you called me an idiot!"

A gave a sigh. It looks like the magus hadn't quite mastered her new phone yet. I moved over to her side of the table, stepped behind her, and moved the phone along with her hand in front of her face.

The two of us were greeted with the sight of a man in an extravagant white suit with white hair, and a matching cape with a massive collar. "See? Much better." He then paused and blinked. "You! I've been trying to get in contact with you for days but you never answered your phone! That's incredibly rude, you know!"

It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me. I guess my position behind Rin allowed him to see me. "You were the one calling me? Why would I answer a call from someone I didn't know?"

"Because they have important information to tell you!" The man yelled with frustration.

I gave a snort. "Yeah right, I bet you want to tell me how you have great deals on all you latest products."

"I'm the CEO, not a salesman! Never mind, we're getting off topic, and I might as well do this for the both of you while I have you." He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Kotomine Sasashi, you have each winged one Sekirei and are therefore participants in the Sekirei Plan!"

Rin and I paused in surprise for a moment at the man knowing our names. Then Rin turned to me and asked "Wait, Sasashi? What's that about?"

"I'll tell you later." I muttered before looking back at the screen. "Are you perchance Minaka Hiroto?" After I had winged Homura, I had done some research on MBI. It wasn't much, but I did remember something about man the fire Sekirei seemed to have a grudge against.

"Indeed I am. And also, I would like to say that I am impressed with the fact that you managed to wing Homura of all people. We thought it would take several more months before anything happened on that front."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the fire Sekirei's face twist in anger at that comment. Rin spoke up before he did anything else though. "And just what is this Sekirei Plan? Musubi had mentioned it but she wasn't specific."

"The Sekirei Plan is the name of the contest you have entered upon winging a Sekirei. The rules are simple. There are one hundred and eight freed Sekirei in the city right now. These Sekirei fight, and fight, and fight, and fight! And the Ashikabi of the last remaining Sekirei is given permission to ascend."

A silence settled in the room. That sounded awfully like… "Are you telling me that this 'Sekirei Plan' is a battle royal to the last one standing?"

"Exactly!" Minaka said. "You're pretty quick on the uptake."

Rin and I looked at each other with dread. _Oh no. Not again. Please not another war._

"Why…?" Rin whispered, clearly mirroring my own fear.

Minaka apparently heard her and thought that this was directed at him. "Why? I just told you, to win ascension!"

I turned my attention back to the phone. "What does that even mean? Be specific."

"Tsk tsk tsk," Minaka said as he waved his finger. "I can't go ruining the surprise now, can I? Suffice to say, the one who wins shall be welcome in the new Age of the Gods."

"You do realize that gods tend to be assholes, right?" Rin said scathingly, causing the man on the phone to flinch back. "Regardless, what are the rules? I should hope you had enough sense to tell everyone involved not to tell anyone about this."

The CEO was silent for a moment before he broke out into a smile. "Oh there is fire in you. This game is going to be even more interesting than I thought. And yes, the secrecy of the Sekirei Plan is paramount. However, I will not be telling you the rules myself, as that is a job for your Sekirei. I have made sure that every Sekirei knows the rules of the Plan before they leave MBI."

I gave a sideways glance at Homura before I said "But what if a Sekirei doesn't want to participate? I'm sure that some would just prefer to settle down with their Ashikabi rather than get involved with this."

"Oh no no no, that wouldn't do at all!" Minaka said cheerfully. "How are we supposed to find out which pair is the strongest if not all compete? Needless to say, we have ways of making sure that everyone plays along. And besides, only under true desperation can heroes be made!"

I was silent for a moment longer before I spoke in a flat voice. "So, let me get this straight. You find a spaceship of human-like aliens with fantastic powers who's main goal is to integrate peacefully with humanity and find the person they love, and you decide to force the lot of them into a massive death match over an incredibly vaguely defined prize of 'ascension' for your own amusement?"

The man gave a frown. "That is an entirely too crude way to put it. Sacrifices must be made to bring about the glory of the next Age."

Funny how you always seem to here that from the man not making any. If nothing else, this confirmed my decision to remove the Sekirei from MBI's grasp. Minaka Hiroto was clearly a man with delusions of grandeur, and control of an alien race made him exceedingly dangerous. Though the Church was already committed, we would have a much easier time of things if he didn't know that I was planning against him and his Sekirei Plan. The best way to handle this right now was to keep calm and get as much information out of him as I could.

Unfortunately, especially given what I had just heard, staying calm was never my strong suit.

I gently took the phone from Rin and looked at it. "Listen closely, you puffed up fool. I've seen more people like you that I care to count, as well as the misery they cause. You think you can play with other people's lives because they don't have the power to stop you. Well, I'm going to tell you this now: I'm going to stop you. I will burn both you and your plan to the ground before I let you rip people apart from their loved ones for your own amusement. I will take it apart piece by piece if I have to. You want a war? I will show you what a true war is!"

For the first time during our conversation, Minaka looked completely shocked. "You… are not what I expected from a man of the cloth."

"I image that there are going to be a lot of things in the coming days which you will not expect. Next we meet, may I be standing on the ashes of you once great machinations." With that I hung up the phone. I gave a sigh, and when I looked back up I was met with the stunned faces of everyone else in the room. I winced. "Too much?"

"Just a little." Rin said dryly.

"Just a little?!" Uzume said incredulously. "I mean, holy shit bro! You pretty much just declared war on MBI! You either have a death wish or the biggest pair of brass balls I've ever seen!"

"Uzume-kun, do not use such language in the Izumo House" Miya chided, but she did so halfheartedly as most of her focus was on me. "Still, she has a point Sasashi-san. It is… unwise to so directly oppose MBI."

"Perhaps, but it's still has to be done." I said before looking off to the side awkwardly. "Also, I may have a slight problem holding my temper."

"No arguments here." Homura remarked, his fountain of deadpan comments having yet to run dry. "Still, after seeing that… maybe it won't be so bad having you as an Ashikabi after all."

I looked at the man with some surprise before a small grin appeared on my face. Following a gut feeling I had, I extended my arm out to the man, presenting him with a closed fist. He quirked an eyebrow before he gave a smirk and pressed his own closed fist to mine.

I wasn't an expert, but I was pretty sure that meant we were bros now.

Rin rolled her eyes at this. "This is great and all, but I think I've had enough excitement for one day. Shirou, as I am now lacking a hotel room, I will be staying with you for the night." She declared as if there was no room for argument.

I stiffed a smile. "Actually Rin, this is an inn. I'm sure that the landlady could set you up with something. In fact, considering the hour, I'm thinking that maybe Nero and I will rent a room for the night rather than walk back."

Miya blinked before giving what I was coming to believe was her usual expression of crinkled eyes and demure smile. "Yes, that is perfectly acceptable. My husband would never have turned away anyone in need. However, I will expect you to follow the rules I set down. I will not tolerate lewdness in the Izumo House." She said, her eyes flicking meaningfully at Nero.

"Oh. Umm…" I said as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "You know what, never mind. I think we will walk back tonight."

"Why is that, Praetor?" the emperor asked with some confusion. "I see no problem with complying with her request."

"Ara, I think you and I have different definitions of lewd, Nero-san." Miya remarked. "I have not said anything as you are a guest, but if you intend to stay, I must say that such clothing is inappropriate."

Nero looked indignant. "I don't understand. There is nothing wrong with the way I dress."

"Well, for one thing, your breasts are almost completely exposed."

"I am not exposing my breasts. I'm covering everything else."

The room was silent for a moment before I said "Yeaaaah, I think we're going to go." I got up and fortunately Nero only gave a shrug before getting up as well. "Of course, Rin and her Sekirei can still stay, right?"

Before Miya could respond, Rin interjected "Thank you, but not tonight. I do not feel like doing paperwork at the moment and I would like to talk with my old friend some more. However, this does appear to be a respectable establishment, so I shall be around tomorrow to rent if that is fine with you."

"That works just fine." The landlady replied.

"Bye everyone!" Musubi said as the four of us made our way to the door. "I'll be living with all of you tomorrow!"

We all said our goodbyes and started walking back to my apartment. We were silent for the first few minutes before I gave a meaningful glance at Nero, making a small number of gestures between myself and Rin before nodding at Musubi. She nodded in understanding before walking over to the Sekirei and saying "So, how did you come to find Rin?"

"Ah! First I was let out of MBI, then I was chased around by a bunch of mean people, and then…" she continued to talk like that, not noticing that Nero was gently leading her forward while Rin and I started to fall back. While I wanted her present for this, I needed Nero to keep the Sekirei out of the conversation we were about to have.

"So…" I said.

"So…" Rin agreed.

Neither of us were quite sure where to go from there. Had it really been five years since we last saw each other? We did keep up a regular correspondence of letters, but seeing her in person again really made me wonder how connected we still were. It wasn't that we didn't want to see each other, it's just that our lives took very different directions after the Grail War. I went to the Vatican, she went to the Clock Tower, and it's very rare that those two things coincide. Especially seeing as how she was a researcher and I was more of a field man.

"Is the church going to be mad that you so openly provoked MBI?" She finally ventured.

I shrugged. "Maybe a little, but I doubt that I will be taken seriously. Besides, even if Minaka doesn't know the real face of the Church, he still should know better than doing anything that will provoke what is by all rights its own nation."

"Hmp. Perhaps. Still, I'm surprised that you are going to such lengths at all." She said cautiously. "I would have thought that the Church would have decided to just kill them all."

I gave her an irritated frown. "Believe it or not, the Church doesn't hold the policy 'kill everything that isn't human'. We are well aware that inhuman doesn't mean evil. Besides, I don't think you can lecture my organization on moral grounds."

Rin gave me an angry look. "And just what is that is supposed to mean?"

"You know damn well what it means. Why did you wing Musubi?" This was the biggest uncertainty right now. Rin had spent the last five years with the Mage's Association, a group of magi whose primary focus was that of research and knowledge. That in itself wouldn't be bad, but apparently no one there had ever took a class on scientific ethics. If the magi back in London got ahold of the Sekirei, they would take them apart to find out what made them tick. What if Rin had been changed by here time there? Could we still be friends if I knew she would do terrible things in the pursuit of knowledge?

Rin's face twisted. "She's an alien species no one's ever heard of. There could be a countless number of things we could learn from them."

"So you got married to one so you could get a better look." I said flatly, causing her to flinch a little. "Isn't that a little disingenuous?"

"She's not human. I'm pretty sure she feels things differently than we do. I don't think…" she trailed off.

"Yes, I'm sure that telling yourself that will make you feel better when the experiments start."

There was a moment of pause before she stopped and rounded on me, anger smoldering in her eyes. "You. Asshole. Don't you dare imply that I would hurt her just to learn more about her species."

I stopped and tilted my head. "Why wouldn't you? I thought that's what magi do."

"It's not what I do!" She all but yelled at me. "I don't care what other magi think! I won't backstab, lie or steal just to get ahead! I'm not going to make alliances with prissy, stupid twits to get political favors! I don't want to be like them!"

I stood there in shock for a few moments at her sudden outburst. There was more to it, more than what she had just said. I had been friends with Rin for pretty much as long as I could remember, so even if it had been a while, I could still read her unspoken words well enough. Then, I was hit with a sudden burst of crystalline understanding.

And realized that I truly was a huge asshole.

I moved in close and suddenly wrapped here in a hug, her squeaking in surprise at the motion. With one arm around her waist and the other on holding her head to my chest, I said "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Of course you wouldn't do that that."

"N-no, I wouldn't! Now let go of me!"

I still held on to her. "It must have been hard, five years at a place like the Clock Tower with no friends." Strong, brilliant Rin wouldn't have changed. Not even all the dickheads in the Clock Tower could do that. But that meant she had lived the past five years in the company of the morally bankrupt, petty aristocrats, and as she put it, prissy stupid twits.

Alone, with no one around she could call a friend.

"D-d-don't make presumptions!" She said while trying to struggle out of my grip. I could tell that she wasn't trying very hard, though. "I was just fine, you stupid Pyro! Stupid, stupid, stupid Pyro!"

She repeated that mantra a few times before she finally stopped struggling and slowly wrapped her arms around me in turn. "God damn it," she whispered into my chest as she shook slightly. "I missed you."

I felt a small tear roll down my cheek as I kissed her hair. "I missed you too."

I think we were going to be alright.


	7. Chapter 6

I gave slow, steady breaths as the water I poured over myself evaporated into wisps of steam. The water wasn't necessary for my own benefit (it had been a long time since heat had truly made me uncomfortable), but it could be problematic for other people if my skin was as hot as a stovetop and they happened to run into me. As I idly glanced around the concrete basement that was under my apartment building, I made note of the new scorch marks I had made and would need to take care of later.

One of the main reasons I picked this particular building to live in was that it had a rather large room in the basement that was meant for storage. I was a bit different from most other Executors and Exorcists that the Church employed in that I was a full magus rather than someone with just skill, Mystic Codes, or maybe a rare ability. While I hated using the term to describe myself (given how others who bear the title behave), that didn't change the fact that I needed a workshop to research my magecraft. Given how rare incarnations are, there's not really much existing material I could work with, so I had to build up most of what I knew from scratch. And given the necessary trial and error combined with the how volatile of my particular incarnation was, I was glad that I could find a place I could set up my workshop that was made of reinforced concrete.

I strolled over to a nearby table at held my research material. Some might wonder just how much a person could study fire, but the answer as it turns out is quite a lot. I've made a decent study of chemistry and physics to understand the phenomenon on a mundane level, which is to say nothing of the number of ways I've found to warp, bend, and outright change the things I have learned with magecraft. My particular favorite is burning things which should not be able to combust at all. Then again, I might be biased in that, as that ability comes from my rather… particular state of mind.

In any case, that material wasn't what I was looking at, and what I was happened to be a cross section of a human eye. My latest research involved the creation of Mystic Eyes, a mutation in the magic circuits in the eye area that grants the wielder special abilities. In this, the Church was able to help somewhat, as they had some collected notes about how to artificially manufacture them. However, the only kind of Eyes ever created in this fashion were those of Binding, Charm, and Whisper, and I was not attempted to make any of those.

I was attempting to make the very rare Mystic Eyes of Flame, which have been said to allow the user to ignite anything within line of sight. I was sure that if I possessed them, I could use them to increase the potential of the rest of my magecraft, maybe even increasing the speed and potency of my spells. Most magi would consider it a foolish and impossible endeavor to try, but most magi aren't fire incarnations. Still, it was slow going, and at the moment I only had the basic frame work of what I needed to do.

After about a half an hour passed, I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was just about noon. _I have to wrap this up. Mom and Yukari will be here soon_, I thought. It was the first Saturday of the month, so the two would be showing up soon for our regular luncheon. I needed some time to get cleaned up and tell Rin about it.

Oh yeah, and I should probably get around to telling her that I had found my biological family. I had intended to last night, but things had gotten emotional and every one was so tired that once we got back we did little more than pulled out the spare futon and went to sleep. I hadn't had the chance to talk to her this morning as she was still asleep when I woke up, so I had just whipped up some breakfast before heading down to my workshop.

I was putting everything away when I got to the pile of mail I had grabbed on the way down to the basement. I sorted through it quickly; bill, junk, junk, menu-

I stopped at the last letter, and my breath caught at seeing that it was from Fuyuki Memorial Hospital. It had been awhile since I told them where I was, so they had probably sent it to my PO Box in the Vatican which was then forwarded here. I quickly tore open the letter and read its contents. It was fairly short, but I spent a few minutes rereading it.

I then calmly put down the letter and picked up my phone, dialing the call back number that was listed. It ringed three times before the voice of an older man answered. "Hello?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S _GONE_?!"

* * *

Rin sat at the table, munching on the breakfast that Shirou had made for her before he headed down to his workshop, or at least that's what the note he had left for her said. While there was plenty to do today, given how tired she was she had slipped back into her old habit of sleeping late whenever she could afford it. As she planned her day, she figured that the first thing she needed to do was head back to the Izumo House to set up a room, and then head back to the hotel where she had accidentally left her bag behind when Musubi… got ahead of herself. Such as it was, she had to borrow one of Nero's nighties to sleep in, and even though it was probably the most modest piece of sleep wear the former emperor owned, it was still a little more blush inducing that Rin would have like.

That small blush increased when Rin remember waking up that morning to find that not only had Musubi had latched onto her in her sleep (again), but that Nero somehow had as well. It was likely that the blonde woman had migrated over to her futon after Shirou got up, wanting another warm body to sleep next to. This wouldn't have been as much as a problem if Nero's night time apparel wasn't incredibly revealing or simply not wearing any at all. This morning was the latter case.

"You are looking flushed. Is the food not agreeing with you?" Nero asked from her position across the table from her, now wrapped in a sheet in a sort of makeshift toga.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Rin snapped. "I'm just not used to waking up and finding naked people on top of me!"

Nero gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Oh, that is nothing to get worked up over. It certainly is not anything you have not seen before." She gave Rin a sultry look. "Or touched."

Rin's face somehow got even redder. "T-t-that was a tantric ritual! And we all swore we would never speak of it again!"

Nero coyly looked at the ceiling. "I do not remember agreeing to such a thing." She looked back at Rin. "Besides you do not seem to have that much of a problem with your Sekirei, and she was not clothed much more than I."

Rin frowned and glanced at the bathroom, where Musubi was currently taking a shower. "Yeah, well, I've tried telling her not to, but she looks at me with these big, sad eyes that make me think that I'm kicking a puppy, so I've just decided to let it happen."

"Hmm. Well, whatever your reason, it will be good for you to have a bedmate. I cannot imagine that you found many worthy of you at the Clock Tower."

Rin felt her frustration grow at the comment. While Nero hadn't known Rin for nearly as long as Shirou, she had still seemed to hit on a rather sore subject for the magus. It had always been Rin's dream to go to the Clock Tower and in some ways, like the liberties, the funding, and research, it had been just what she wanted. However, she was now also certain that the phrase 'Hell is other people' must have originated in London. Seeing as how most of her colleges were fools, pompous jerks, depraved, or some combination thereof, she had taken to spending most of her time alone. She might have been able to deal with it better if she was used to that sort of thing, but she had had Shirou as a friend she could always reach for so long that suddenly being without left her feeling somewhat empty. Rin thought back to when Musubi first explained to her what the Sekirei were and just what she was feeling when she agreed to become an Ashikabi…

Rin shook her head. _No, I winged Musubi because she could provide valuable research,_ Rin thought stubbornly. _It most certainly wasn't because I was feeling lonely_.

Before the magus could continue to convince herself of this fact, the door to the apartment slammed open. Rin jumped in her seat and turned to find Shirou standing in the doorway. She may have been distracted by the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt at any other time, but at that moment the man looked very pale and distraught. "Shirou? What's wrong?"

"Sakura is missing."

Rin felt her heart skip a beat. "W-what? What do you mean missing? How is that possible?"

"I mean the doctors found her hospital room empty." He said as he walked into the room. "Apparently, this happened a week ago. I just got the letter today."

Rin's mind raced with the possibilities of what could have happened to her sister. "Someone could have taken her, but why? With Zouken dead, there's practically no one outside of this room who even know who she is, and even then what use could she be?" She paused as a thought came to her. "Do you think she-"

"I don't know!" Shirou shouted. "Damn it, it's been far too long since I checked up on her."

Nero rose and approached her master. "Perhaps, but you are saying that like it would have prevented this somehow."

"Maybe it could have. Maybe I could have figured something out to help her. Maybe I could have been there when…" he trailed off as he looked at the ground, his fist clenched at his sides.

Rin frowned as she looked at her old friend. Their bond worked both ways, as she was just as able to read him as he did her last night. It was natural that he was upset, as was she, but he seemed even more distraught that he should be. Like this was far more personal to him-

Rin's eyes widened when she realized it. As she stood, she said "Oh, you poor, stupid fool. You still blame yourself for what happen to her, don't you."

"God damn it Rin, I put her into a coma! Of course I blame myself!"

"But it's not your fault, dumbass! It a miracle that you managed to keep her alive at all!"

Nero nodded in agreement. "And even if you failed completely and her death resulted because of it, you still would have prevented the darkness inside her from consuming the world. And don't you dare presume that Sakura would have wanted differently. You know as well as I do that she was stronger than that."

Shirou clenched his hands tighter and grit his teeth, clearly holding back his anger. He stayed like that for a few moments before the tension left him and his shoulders sagged. "I know. It's just that… I failed her. I was supposed to fix everything, give Sakura her life back. Instead I scarred her and now she might never wake up again. If only I was better…" His face twisted into an unpleasant scowl. "If only I had the skill _he_ had…"

Rin hesitated. The less that was said about the man she had summoned in the Holy Grail War, the better. Still, she replied. "I don't think that you should be looking to Avenger for a role model."

Shirou gave a snort. "That's an understatement. Still, considering how I kind of absorbed that particular skill from him, it makes me wish that I had gotten more of it."

Nero gave a huff. "If that would have resulted in you becoming more like that lunatic, then you are better off without it. Now, no more talk of the past. What are we going to do about this?"

Shirou gave a sigh. "I don't know. Normally I'd go off to look for her, but with the Sekirei Plan going on I just can't leave. The timing is terrible."

"Well, we're going to have to call in whatever contacts we have to look for her instead." Rin said. "In the meantime, we'll deal with the Sekirei Plan and try to figure out just what happened to her." Shirou didn't respond, instead looking at the ground. She move forward and wrapped her arms around him. "We're going to find her. I promise." She said, trying to mask her own worry.

Nero moved as well, pressing herself into his back. He looked surprised for a moment, but then he gave a small smile and returned the hug, closing his eyes as he did so. Rin followed suit, relishing how warm hugs with Shirou always were. For a moment, the three friends took comfort in each other's company.

The moment ended when a voice from the direction of the bathroom said "Ah! We're having a group hug? Musubi wants to join too!" And then a body crashed into Rin from behind, along with two warm, slightly damp things that enveloped her head. It was reasonable to assume that Musubi was now hugging her and had not yet bothered to get dressed.

Suddenly that hug had gotten a lot hotter.

_Well, at least it can't get any more awkward_, Rin thought.

Naturally, it was at this moment the she managed to pick up a new voice (even with her head encased in its fleshy prison) coming from the hallway outside the apartment. "Oniiiiiii-chaaan!"

Shirou stiffened. "Oh dear god no."

The voice got louder as it came into the apartment. "Onii-ch-what the-!" That was as far as the new voice got before the owner collided with the group and sent the lot of them tumbling to the ground.

As Rin struggle to escapes the entangled limbs, she finally managed to catch a glimpse at the newcomer, who looked to be a girl in her late teens with short black hair and wearing a student's uniform. There was also an older woman in a lab coat and white hair standing in the doorway, looking at the mess with a flat stare. "The church has really let its moral standards drop these days." She remarked dryly. "Minato, I know that you're too old for me to get into your personal life, but could you at least restrain yourself on the days I visit?"

Rin blinked in confusion at the situation for a moment before realizing what this must have looked like. Shirou, half naked in a pile of naked women (Nero's toga had fallen off), save for herself, though the nightie wasn't really helping things. Rin sputtered and felt like all the blood that was rushing to her face was starting to reach critical mass. Shirou apparently felt the same way as his face matched her own.

"I assure you Takami, this is not what it looks like." Nero said, managing to get to her feet, completely uncaring of her own state of undress. "Shirou is always considerate when it comes to our romantic engagements. Why just a month ago-"

"Nero! What have I told you about talking to my mother about my sex life?!" Shirou said frantically.

Rin blinked. She must have hit her head, because she could have sworn she just heard Shirou say mother.

"Takami-san! It's good to see you again!" Musubi said while waving enthusiastically, causing her chest to bounce in a most distracting manner that Rin most certainly did not look at.

Shirou got over his embarrassment long enough to give Musubi a curious look. "Wait, how do you know my mother?" There was that word again. How hard did she hit her head?

"Takami-san was responsible for making my adjustments. Just like the rest of the Sekirei."

"Musubi, I thought you were told not to talk about that to civilians." The woman said with a grimace before turning to Shirou. "Mintao, pull your sister out of there. I rather this situation not get any more inappropriate than it already is."

Shirou dutifully helped the other girl to her feet, who seemed to be bleeding profusely from the nose for some reason. "O-onii-chan is getting a harem! I knew I should have brought my manga! Now how will I know how the imouto is supposed to respond to this?!" She wailed.

Shirou face palmed. "First of all, Yukari, I am not getting a harem. Secondly, mom, I already know about the Sekirei, and we need to talk."

Before he could go any further, Rin shouted "Wait wait wait! Shirou, who the hell are these people? Why did they just burst into your apartment? And why do you keep calling that one 'mother'?!"

The man blinked before giving a sigh. "Right. I had meant to tell you earlier, but things kept coming up." He gestured to the two new women. "Rin, meet my biological mother and sister."

Rin's mouth fell open at this proclamation, and the only thought running through her head was _No complications. Right…_


	8. Chapter 7

"So, was that a normal event for when she comes to visit, or do you save that for special occasions?"

I pursed my lips at my mother. "For the last time, it wasn't what it looked like. Rin and I are just friends." Tantric Ritual notwithstanding, but she didn't need to know that. "We just slept in late and hadn't gotten dressed. Then Yukari knocked us over and…" I trailed off.

"Oh. I just thought Onii-chan had _that_ kind of lifestyle." Yukari said, sounding oddly disappointed.

Takami frowned, not really believing my explanation. The three of us were at a café in downtown Shin Tokyo, having spent most of the time getting there hearing my explanation of why what they had walked in on a 20 minutes ago wasn't a prelude to an orgy. Rin had taken Mubsui back to the inn to get a room while Nero was out shopping. I wasn't sure for what, but I was sure that it was prohibitively expensive.

Before I could start pondering the ethics of Church donations indirectly funding the Emperor's Shopping Spree, my mother said "Whatever the case, I still think you should have been more considerate of when we were coming over."

I frowned. "I'm sorry. I've had… a lot on my mind lately, some of which I need to talk to you about now. It's about-" I cut myself off and looked at Yukari before looking back at Takami. "You told Musubi that she shouldn't talk about it in public."

Takami gave me an even look before reaching into her purse to pull out a cigarette. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I gaped at her a little. "You cannot be serious. Musubi clearly knows who you are and that you're involved somehow. Are you really trying to play the ignorance card?"

"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Yukari asked, clearly confused.

"Nothing, apparently." I said with a grumble. Then I had an idea. "Well, I guess if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably don't care that after Minaka gave me a call to tell me about a certain plan which you are most certainly not aware of, I may or may not have declared war on the whole of MBI to his face."

"What?!" Takami yelped, clearly not expecting that response. "Are you insane?! He might just send Karasuba after you if he thinks you're a threat to his plan!"

"You mean the plan that you know nothing about?" I asked coly.

The woman grit her teeth in frustration for a few moments before calming down. She then turned to my sister. "Yukari, I need to talk to Minato alone for a bit."

The girl became somewhat indignant at this. "How come I can't hear about whatever this is too?"

"Because it's bad enough that your brother has managed to get involved. Now could you please leave us for a moment?"

With an irritated huff, my sister walked off to the counter to buy another drink. I glanced at Takami. "You're really serious about this."

"Minaka is obsessed, to put it lightly, in restoring mankind to its so call 'former glory'. And that's to say nothing of all the other unsavory types that are involved with this stupid plan." She gave a drag on her cigarette. "How's Homura doing?"

I blinked at the question, both at the sudden change in subject and the fact that she knew who he was. After a moment, I figured it was because she did all the adjustments on the Sekirei, and likely kept tabs on who was winged by whom. "Still heterosexual, confused, and rather upset, though we've been working things out between us."

Takami hummed in thought. "I can imagine. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that it turned out like this, given his condition and all."

"Condition?"

She opened her mouth to respond before she seemed to think better of it. "It's not my place to say. In any case, just what was it that you want to talk to me about? I have to tell you that as an MBI employee, I'm not allowed to help you in the Sekirei Plan."

I gave a small smirk. "Well, then it's a good thing that I don't want you to help me win it."

She arched an eyebrow. "Then what-"

"I want you to help me destroy it."

Takami went completely stiff. "I understand how the plan might make you upset, but-"

"No buts. I'm completely serious, mother." I said, my face becoming harder. "I'm not sure how much you know about it, but you can possibly think that this is alright."

She grimaced. "I'm the head geneticist. I know everything. And I know that what you're asking is foolish. MBI is one of the largest companies in the world, and has its own private army to boot. How exactly do you plan to destroy that?"

"With help." I replied. "If you were willing to help me, I'm sure that it could be done."

"It's taking no small amount of effort on my part from keeping things from spiraling out of control as it is." She gave a sigh. "Look, as incredibly stupid as this whole thing is, there are just too many moving parts to the plan. I can't just take out one bit of it and expect it to stop. In fact, it would more likely than not make things worse."

I smiled. "See, this is exactly why I need your help. You actually know all the parts to the Sekirei Plan, and can keep me from doing anything too stupid."

Takami glared at me. "I don't like how you phrased that. It implies that you're still going to do stupid things regardless."

It was my turn to sigh. "I'm not going to lie. Even if I don't get your help, even if I didn't have anyone's help, I would still do this. You can't possibly expect me to feel fine being a part of a giant death match for which the only discernible purpose seems to be to let people find love before destroying it cruelly. It's sort of my job to be opposed to that sort of thing." I said, meaningfully pointing at my collar.

My mother's face twisted even more. "Technically, the Sekirei aren't human, so I don't think your job applies."

"They're human enough." I said with a scowl.

Takami didn't relent. "It's bad enough that you got caught up in the plan, but I'm not going to let you do something as suicidal as go against it."

I shrugged. "I can take care of myself."

"Not against this. I'm forbidding you."

"Didn't you just say that you can't tell me what to do?"

Her tone became heated. "That was before you started being an idiot. Now I apparently have to beat some sense into you"

I almost growled in response "Why won't you let me do the right thing?!"

Her hand slammed down on the table. "Damn it Minato, I can't lose you again!"

There was a sudden silence in the café after Takami's outburst. After a moment, the tension left her and her shoulders slumped. "I couldn't live with myself if I lost you after finding you were alive." She muttered weakly. "I just… couldn't."

Getting over my surprise, I reached across the table and took her hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I promise I'll try to be careful. Lord knows that Nero and Homura will probably beat me senseless if I wasn't."

My mother was silent for a few minutes, looking at the table with her brow furrowed. She surprised me when she final said "Who else do you have enlisted?"

I leaned back. "Well, I've asked the 01 for help-"

"What?!" She said as she looked up in alarm. "And she accepted? Wait, how do you even know who she is?"

I was a little taken back by the outburst. "Well… Homura had mentioned her in passing and I asked to meet her. She hasn't exactly accepted yet, but she is thinking it over."

Takami let out a groan and put her head in her hands. "Minato, how do you think MBI with react if someone as powerful Miya starts to move?"

"Um, carefully?"

"I was going to use the term 'with excessive force'." She grumbled. "I can believe you've already gotten into this much trouble. I'm almost surprised that a windowless van hasn't shown up and grabbed you off the street."

I gave a snort. "I think the Church would become a little suspicious if I suddenly disappeared right now."

"Why would they think that? They don't know anything about the plan." There was a silent pause between us. My mother turned to look at me very intensely. "I said, they don't know anything about the plan." She said insistently.

I opened my mouth to respond before I briefly paused. That was all the confirmation that my mother needed as she let out a massive groan. I shifted uncomfortably as I said "To be fair, I told them before I was told not to tell anyone about the plan."

"This is just what we need…" Takami muttered, ignoring me. "For the Vatican get involved and start an international incident."

I twisted my lips. "Come on, give us some credit. The Church knows better than to start throwing around accusations of mistreatment of alien species. They'll stay quiet, though I should mention that they are just as displeased as I am with the situation." Granted, for different reasons, but she didn't need to know that.

Takami rubbed her temple as she glared at me. "Well, at least now I see it's pointless to turn you way from your goal. You're already so neck deep in trouble that backing out now will be like walking through a minefield." She began ticking off fingers. "So in addition to keeping your reckless ass alive, I now have to prepare for if the 01 decides to declare war on us, and the Vatican doing who knows what on the other side of the planet. Anything else you want me to help with?" She asked dryly.

I was about to say no when a thought came to me. "Actually, yes, though this has nothing to do with the Sekirei Plan. This is personal."

"You sure have been busy these past few days." Takami remarked.

I ignored her and continued. "I had a friend back in Fuyuki who…" I tried to ignore the tightness in my chest. "…got into an accident and fell into a coma a few years ago. A week ago she went missing."

"Missing?" Takami raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean missing?"

"I mean she just disappeared. None of the doctors know what happened."

"Hmm… MBI controls a number of hospitals, but I know that we don't have any in Fuyuki. What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know." I said running my hand through my hair in frustration. "Anything. I'm sure MBI has any number information gathering resources you could use to look for her. And don't you dare say anything about it being unethical. Your company doesn't have a lot of moral high ground to work with." I gave my mother a pleading look. "Please. I can't tell you much about it right now, but it would mean a lot if you would help."

She gave it a moment's consideration before she gave tired sigh. "I'll see what I can do. What's her name?"

"Sakura Matou. And might I say that you're the best mom ever. There should be plays and epics detailing your magnanimousness and grace."

"Damn straight." She said with an upturned mouth. "Now, if that's all, I should probably go see to Yukari before she decides to start eavesdropping on us."

As I watched my mother go collect my sister by the counter, I secretly hoped that I didn't let my mother know too much. The Church would be displeased if they found out I had let her know about their involvement, even if only in a vague and mundane fashion. Still, she had to know all the players involved if I wanted her help to actually work. As it was, I believe I gave her enough information to be helpful, but not enough to put her in danger.

I hadn't intended on telling her about Sakura though. That had been something I had thought on the spot. I honestly didn't know how much help she could be in this matter (if Sakura was taken by a magus for some reason, I don't think they'd be anywhere near MBI's sphere of influence), but considering I had my hand full at the moment, I need every last longshot I could take. Intellectual, I knew that Rin was right when she said that it wasn't my fault, but I couldn't ignore the feeling that her state was my responsibility.

"Dere dere…" I whispered soft to myself. "What happened to you?"

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I almost missed the sight of my sister suddenly swaying and falling to the ground.

* * *

Homura looked at Rin Tohsaka carefully as she filled out the paperwork for renting a room at the inn. The woman had given a general overview of herself last night, but the fire Sekirei knew that there was far more to it than what she said. The eye laser was a dead giveaway; He might not have been a genius with technology, but he knew enough that it should be impossible to put the power he saw into a space as small as an eye with current technology. And considering her relationship to his Ashikabi, that meant the most likely cause was… _magic_.

He gave a grimace just thinking about the word. He still didn't want to believe that such a glaring hole in his world view could exist, but he was having trouble coming up with alternatives. However, the appearance of Rin gave him the chance to talk about it with someone other than his Ashikabi of questionable sanity. Uzume was out at the moment and Musubi was in a spar with the landlady, so he didn't have to worry about them overhearing. Matsu was probably listening in, but he knew that Miya already had a 'talk' with her about it, and the Brain type was likely smart enough to have suspicions of her own about the new arrival.

Homura nonchalantly stated "So… you're a mage like Shirou, right?"

The woman stopped writing and gave him a cool look before turning back to the paperwork and saying "You're lucky that Shirou told me that you already know, or I would be hypnotizing you right now."

"I don't think that's how hypnotism works."

"It is when you have magecraft."

Homura gave a scowl. "See, I can't accept that. This whole 'magic' thing is just too unreasonable. Science disproved such nonsense centuries ago."

Rin looked back at the man and arched an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight. You've lived for at most twenty years, have never been anywhere on the planet other than a tiny island in the pacific and this city… and you think that you know everything there is to about this world?" She put on a condescending smirk. "You're adorable."

Homura grit his teeth in annoyance. "Fine then. Enlighten me. You can start by telling me about the secret magi war that Nero supposedly came from."

Rin became rigid and gave an icy glare at Homura. "How do you know about that?"

"Shirou mentioned it in passing. I assume that was how you really lost your eye."

Said eye started to change to a dangerous red as she said. "Oh, I lost far more than that to that wretched ritual. I suggest that you think very carefully about how you respond next."

Homura hesitated. He had thought that her irritation had come from him pressing into a matter that was supposed to be secret, but it seemed the subject had a lot more emotional weight than he thought. This suddenly seemed like a bad idea.

Fortunately for him, it was at that moment that both of their phones let off a tone that indicated they just got a message, and the tension was effectively broken. Awkwardly taking out his phone, Homura opened the message.

_There's a cute Sekirei in the Botanical Gardens! First come, first serve! You might be the one to give it wings :)_

The fire Sekirei stared at it in confusion for a moment until he realized what it meant. "That… bastard!"

"Did you get the same thing I did?" Rin asked, frowning at the phone in her hands. "What does it mean?"

"It means that the director just put an unwinged Sekirei in danger." He growled. "That was sent to every Ashikabi in the city. Now all of them are going to try to be the one to wing her."

"Wait, the director would do that? I would have thought that he would have wanted the Sekirei to be winged naturally."

"That man only sees us as pawns." Homura spat. "I have to get there and protect her."

Rin gave a nod. "This will be a good chance to scope out the competition. You call Shirou while I grab Musubi."

"Wait, what?" Homura said in surprise, but by then the woman had already left the room. He stood in the dining room for a moment, feeling perplexed by the fact that the mage was apparently more interested in the other players in the Sekirei Plan than in the possibility of getting a new Sekirei. _That's good… I think_?

Eventually he shook his head and pulled out his phone. He paused for a moment and wondered if he should try to keep Shirou out if it, but decided against it as the man got the text as well, and at the very least he needed to know what his Ashikabi was going to do. After a few rings, he heard Shirou's voice say "Not really the best time Homura."

"Well too bad." Homura said with a frown. "I assume you got the text from Minaka?"

"Yeah, but why did he send it to me?"

"He didn't just send it to you, he sent it to everyone!"

There was a pause. "Hold on a moment." Homura heard Shirou talking with someone else but couldn't make out the words. Although the ranting of the other person sounded awfully familiar for some reason. After a moment, Shirou came back. "Ok, now we really have a problem."

"Oh really?" the fire Sekirei responded sarcastically. "Look, I told you when you winged me that it was my duty to protect the unwinged. I'm heading over right to fend off the vultures. Oh, and you friend Rin is going too. Said something about 'scoping the competition'. Anyway, you should just stay out of the way until this all gets settled."

"Yeah, I can't really do that. My sister's the one the Sekirei's reacting to."

Homura was taken aback by this. "What? How?"

"She's apparently getting some kind of vision from her. In any case, if it's true that everyone got the message, then there's no time to waste. I'm closer to the gardens than you are so I'll go ahead to see if I can find her first."

"What?! No, it's too dangerous for you! You're-"

"Only human?" Came the reply. Homura could almost see the amused smirk on his face. "You would not believe the number of things that have said that to me. Or the number of which are still alive. I'll see to there."

The line went dead. Homura tried to ignore the sense of worry her had while he absentmindedly scratched at his chest. It was then that the landlady walked into the room, still carrying her sheathed sword from practice. "Ara, is what the new resident said true?" Miya asked. "Is another of the little feathers in danger?"

"Yes, I have to go save her." With that, Homura rushed to his room to get his battle clothes. If he had stayed a moment longer though, he might have noticed the 01 looking thoughtfully at her blade.


	9. When Shirou met Sakura

It was a day much like any other day for Sakura. That was to say, she was currently being harassed by a number of older boys from her class. The 11 year old didn't know exactly why they did it (she never did), but she doubted that there was really any reason necessary. She was tainted after all, meant to suffer for reasons she would never really understand.

Although, it was worth noting that she couldn't even really bring herself to care as the boys shoved her around the street and hit her. This was barely anything compared to the hell that awaited her back at her home. Considering the things that she had already been through, it was sometimes a wonder that she could feel anything at all.

She didn't know how long it continued, only that at some point a new voice emerged throughout the jeers. "Oi! The Hell's going on here?"

As she had been knocked on the ground a few moments prior, she couldn't really see the newcomer past the other boys. All she saw was a pair of legs clad in the uniform pants from her school. The eldest bully turned away from her to address him. "None of your business, twerp! This girl walked down our street without payin' the toll, so now we haveta take it out of her!"

Was that the reason? Sakura didn't know. It was just as likely that the boy made it up on the spot. The other boy, the new one, gave a snort. "Yeah, because beating the girl up will totally make her want to come down this road again. Are you stupid as well so cowardly to fight people who can't fight back?"

The other boy growled. "That's it! We're gonna make that ugly face of yours even more messed up!"

One of the other two boys that had been hitting Sakura didn't seem too keen on this plan, though. "I don't know about this, boss. I think I've heard of this guy. Some of the kids in class said that there was this troublemaker with burn scars and red hair that picks fights with high schoolers."

"Don't be a wuss!" The leader shouted. "The kid probably just made those storied up to make himself sound cool. Now get him!"

The three surged forward to tackle the other boy, but he dodged out of the way with surprising skill before moving back in to strike. As Sakura sat up, she was impressed to see the boy deftly moving in between the other 3, punching and kicking without talking any hits in return. It was clear that he had some kind of training in combat, and was more than a match for the 3 youths standing in front of him.

A few moments later, the three were knocked down or knocked back, groaning in pain. As they picked themselves up, the cautious one from before said "Y-you are him! You're the Red Haired Devil!" With that the three of them ran past Sakura, trying to get away from him. She looked after their fleeing forms dumbly, not quite believing what had just happen. Her attention returned to the boy that saved her as she heard him walk over, and for the first time she got a good look at him.

The boy looked to be about a year older than her, and had short, somewhat pointy auburn hair. More notable though were the burn marks on his face, some of which went down past his collar. She saw more on the back of his hands, and wondered if his whole body had them. His amber eyes weren't looking at her at the moment though, instead looking intensely at fleeing bullies.

"Never matters how many I stop," He said, seemingly to himself. "There's always more. This world is filled darkness and corruption. I wish I could just burn it all away…"

Sakura began to shake slightly at this statement. She knew she was one of those things filled with darkness and corruption, and at that moment the boy looked so resolute. He would find out what she was and dispose of her. At that moment, the boy was terrifying.

He then looked down at her. "Are you alr- Holy Crap you have no pupils!" he shouted as he pointed and gawked at her.

Annnd the moment was over.

Sakura froze, feeling stunned, incredibly confused, and having no idea how to respond to that. It was true that the 'training' that Zouken put her through had made some physical changes to her eyes, but they had a very light mystic effect on them that kept non-magi from noticing anything. And magi usually had more grace or simply didn't care about such mundane things. She had no idea how he noticed, but the sheer unexpectedness of the comment completely wiped away any fear she might have had for the boy. Stranger still, she felt oddly hurt by it, as if she cared what he thought about such a trivial thing.

Apparently some of what she was feeling translated to her face, as the boy's eyes went wide and he started waving his hands in front of him. "Oh God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you upset! Please don't cry!"

Sakura titled her head and scrunched her face in confusion at the boy's panic. It was almost like he was concerned about her. But that couldn't be right. No one could have concern for something like her.

The boy continued "I mean, it doesn't look bad, it just looks different! You still look really pretty, casue your hair and eyes look like Sakura blossoms!"

She froze at this, and stared at him in wonder. "…Really?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes!" He said with some exasperation. "God, why do girls keep asking me that? Why would I lie about them being pretty? It's almost like they can't see it's total obvious."

Sakura felt herself blushing faintly. She couldn't remember the last time someone complemented her. She tried to thank him, but it came out as a stutter.

He seemed to interpret this as her still being upset as he said "Ah man, I screwed up didn't I?" He fretted some as he scratched the back of his head. "I got to make this better somehow. What would Tsun Tsun say if she saw this?" He turned away from her and took a lecturing pose as his voice shifted to a higher pitch. "Pyro, you idiot! I suppose it's only natural that an uncouth lout like you would insult the girl he's saving. You haven't even helped her off the ground yet! Now take responsibility for this and treat her to something nice!"

He stopped and snapped his fingers. "Treat! That's it!" he turned back to Sakura and held out his hand to help her up. "I'm sorry about all that earlier. How about I get you some ice cream, my treat?"

Sakura blinked. It had been years since she had ice cream. She used to love it before she went to live with the Matou, before everything became worse. After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and took the boy's hand, deciding that yes, she very much wanted this boy to get her ice cream.

* * *

"Shirou, why did you bring some random girl to my house?" Rin asked as she suspiciously eyed Sakura as the other girl tried to nervously hide behind Shirou while gripping his arm.

"Well, I certainly wasn't going to bring her back to the church." He said, as if that was the problem. "I mean, I live there and I sometimes find it kinda creepy. Given the day she's had, I felt that I needed to bring her someplace more homey, you know?"

Rin's mouth twisted. "I meant, why is she still following you around? Doesn't she have a home to go to?"

"Oh," he said as he scratched his head. "Well, she said she wanted to hang out with me some more."

"S-sempai has been very nice to me." Sakura said before shuffling a bit farther behind him.

Rin frowned as she considered the situation. Of all the people he had to bring home, why did it have to be her? The magus has mixed feelings upon seeing her sister again. She was at least a little glad to see her, but since she now belonged to a different family, that sort of made them rivals. Different magus families, even ones that were allied, often had to make sure that the other wasn't hiding a knife behind their back. For various reasons she had to keep Sakura at arm's length, and not even let Shirou know of the fact that they were siblings.

Of course, had Rin known then that Shriou had shown her sister more kindness in the past four hours then the girl had gotten in the past four years, Rin might have been more considerate.

Shirou gave his oldest friend a frown of his own. "Hey, don't look so scary, Tsun Tsun. She's had a bad day, so be nice and properly introduce yourself." As he said this, he gentle pulled the other girl around him and nudged her towards Rin.

"Don't call me Tsun Tsun!" She barked at him for was must have been the thousandth time. She calmed herself down and turned to her sister, wanting to get this farce over with. "I am Rin Tohsaka. It is a pleasure to meet you." She said with a curtsy.

"Ah," Sakura said nervously as she curtsied back. "Sakura Matou. I'll be in your care."

"See, you get along just fine. I think you'll be a good influence on her." Shriou said with a smile.

"And why do you think that?" Rin grumbled.

Shirou's eyebrows rose slightly and he began ticking off his fingers. "Well, you're really smart, outgoing, confident, you could teach her that thing you do when you look even prettier than usual and it kinda radiates off of you…"

Rin's face went red and she sputtered in frustration. He was doing that _thing_ again. That thing where he compliments her so much that if it were anyone else she would know they were patronizing her, but Shirou was just so damn honest and sincere and – Gahh! It always made her feel too many conflicting emotions and confused. Then she gets angry at him for making her confused, as it was clearly his fault.

Before she could get to that stage though, he then looked at the two girls thoughtfully. "You know, there's something about you two. Something similar, yet different. It's like you're related somehow…"

Rin and Sakura shared a glance. It would be bad if he figured out that they were sisters. Then they would have to start explaining things, and that could lead to all sorts of uncomfortable questions. Like why they were separated in the first place, or just what Sakura's magic training was, or-

Shirou suddenly snapped his fingers. "That's it!" he exclaimed before pointing at Sakura. "Dere Dere!"

The two girls stared at him in bafflement as he continued. He pointed at Rin "Tsun Tsun," then at Sakura "Dere Dere". He did it again. "Angry. Nice. It's like you two complement each other perfectly. I'm a genius!" He declared as he put his hands on his hips.

It was quiet in the hall for a moment before a growl emanated from Rin's throat. _Right. That's my Shirou Saying __Stupid__ Things limit for the day. Back to anger._ And with that thought, the magus threw herself at Shriou with a scream and tackled him to the ground, pummeling him with her small fists.

This might have been disconcerting for the boy if it wasn't all too familiar. "Damn it Tsun Tsun, why do you keep randomly attacking me when I say things?!"

"Because you keep saying stupid things!"

"Ah! Sempai!"

This event basically summed up how the next 5 years or so went for the three friends.


	10. Chapter 8

Rin, Musubi and Homura arrived the Botanical Gardens in short order, thanks to Musubi carrying the magus most of the way. Although, standing outside the gardens there was one fact that Rin was having a hard time getting over.

"This isn't a garden, its freaking jungle!" she exclaimed as she stared at the thick foliage in front of her. Indeed, she couldn't see father in than perhaps 30 feet before her vision became obscured by giant trees and underbrush. "I mean, who builds a freaking jungle in the middle of a city?!"

Homura gave a grunt. "It wasn't like this before. I imagine that the Sekirei did this in order to protect herself from the others."

"You mean all this was done by one Sekirei?" Rin asked incredulously. She looked back at the forest in front of her, spanning at least a city block. The idea that a creature could create all this within the span of a few hours was rather humbling. She predicted that she would need to put in a number of late nights to figure out just how these Sekirei worked.

She turned back to Homura to ask him something, but stopped when she noticed that he seemed to be anxious for some reason, repeatedly looking around before looking back in the woods. "Are you alright? Shouldn't you be out hunting other Ashikabi?"

The man frowned at her through his face mask. "Yes, but Shirou is probably in there right now. I can't let my Ashikabi run into such a dangerous situation like this."

Rin put on a mischievous smirk. "Ah, are you worried about your husband?"

"Ye- what?! No! I mean, yes! I – we're not like that!"

Rin snickered at the flustered male. "Well, whatever you are like, you really shouldn't worry. I assume that he told you about the more dangerous part of his job, correct?"

Homura shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah… but I still don't know if he can handle himself against a Sekirei."

Rin briefly glanced at the woods again before looking back at him. "Look, Shirou is probably the most dangerous person I know. In fact, I think he's one of the most dangerous people in the whole Church, and that is by no means a small feat."

"Ah! So Shirou-san is really strong?" Musubi asked excitedly, the conversation hitting something she cared about.

Rin glanced at her Sekirei, idly wondering how she would react to the secret of magic before thinking better of it. "You could say that, and he certainly is, but I would still consider him more dangerous than strong. He's good at using everything he has, from his more… esoteric abilities to those blades he carries on him."

The fire Sekirei gave a grunt. "Yeah, but what if he loses those and a Sekirei gets up close? I've seen him hold three of those in each hand, and that can't possibly be a stable grip."

"First of all, it's impossible for him to run out of those, but that's not important. Secondly, he's quite proficient at using his aforementioned abilities in close range. Thirdly, even if he didn't have the first two, he's also incredibly skilled in unarmed combat, particularly eagle claw style."

The man titled his head to the side. "That's the martial art that focuses on grabs and grip strength, right?"

"Right. The training he's done with his hands for that style is the reason he can wield those blades between his fingers." Shirou had once told her that every Executor was required to have mastery in one form of martial art that focused on finger strength for the expressed purpose of wielding the Black Keys. "It's said that true masters of the style can strip flesh from bone with just their fingers."

"That has to be an exaggeration." Homura said with a snort.

She shook her head. "In Shirou's case, that is not a hyperbole. The man is literally capable of ripping people apart with his bare hands." She shivered slightly as the memory came back to her. "I should know. I saw him do it once." Shirou's mind had been very close to breaking that day. She was lucky that she and Nero managed to bring him back from the brink.

"That's amazing, Rin-san! Do you think I could fight with him someday?"

Rin gaped at her Sekirei cheerfully proclaiming that she wanted to spar with a man that could tear people to pieces. _There's something wrong with this one_, Rin thought to herself. Out loud, she said "Ma-maybe later. Right now we need to do what we came here to do. Homura, just trust me that Shirou can handle himself."

The man grimaced for a moment before he relented with a sigh. "Alright. I've wasted enough time here anyway." He then began to move off along the perimeter of the tree. "But don't you be reckless too! Stick with Musubi!" he shouted before disappearing.

"Yeah, yeah." Rin said as she rolled her eyes. "Musubi, it's time to see what this Sekirei Plan has in store for us."

* * *

Homura jumped from rooftop to rooftop, his eyes constantly scanning for any Ashikabi entering the area. It had been about an hour since he had last seen Rin and he had already encountered two dozen pairs looking to wing the last Sekirei. He had never been so glad that he was winged, as this would have been a lot more difficult if his powers hadn't stabilized.

It wasn't long before he spotted another pair making their way to the gardens, these two taking a shortcut through the alleyway made by the building he was standing on and the one adjacent. Wasting no time, he jumped down, bouncing between the walls of the buildings before landing in front of them. "So, I assume that you're here to-" Homura abruptly cut his statement off when he got a good look at the two of them. It was hard to see the Ashikabi as the Sekirei moved in front as soon as he appeared, but it was the Sekirei that held his attention more anyway. She was a well-endowed woman wearing a white kimono with back trim that barely fit her. It was only kept on the number of chains around her body, giving her a rather fetishistic look. She also had short, light hair and an empty expression, but all of that took a back seat to the crimson Sekirei crest emblazed on her forehead.

"A Scrapped number?!" Homura said in shock and surprise. "What are you doing out the MBI labs?" A Scrapped number was a Sekirei that had become so powerful that they winged themselves. Something like that should never have been let into the Sekirei plan.

The Scrap in question said nothing, merely continuing to stare at Homura intensely. The look she was giving him was cold enough that it actually felt like the temperature had dropped in the alleyway. It was instead the person behind her that spoke up. "I would imagine that she left because they were treating her poorly, though I had not asked." Stepping out from behind the Sekirei, Homura saw a young woman with long white hair and red eyes. He wondered if she was an albino, but her skin, while light, did not seem particularly pale. While studying her, he also noticed some faded markings extending from the lower part of her face to beneath her collar which eerily reminded him of his own Ashikabi.

The woman, despite her mildly unsettling appearance, gave him a warm smile and said "Now why is it that you've stopped us?"

Though there was a great deal about this situation he was uncertain of, Homura continued forward with his warring. "I'm here to tell you that if you're here to wing the Sekirei, you can forget it. I'm not going to let anyone take an unwinged against their will."

The woman seemed genuinely surprised at this. "But why would I do that if she was unwilling?"

Homura blinked. "That's not what you're here for?"

"Well, when I noticed that there were a lot of people were coming this way, I asked one what this was about. When I heard that everyone was going to find an unwinged, I thought that I would present myself to see if I was her… Ashikabi is the word, correct?" She said as she looked at the woman in the kimono who gave her a nod in return. "That is how it works right?"

The fire Sekirei narrowed his eyes at her, trying to tell if she was being sincere. It was possible that she was simply being naïve and only wanted to see if the new Sekirei would react to her. The woman certainly did look innocently confused. Cautiously, Homura replied "Well, yes, though I should tell you that she is already reacting to someone. Most of the people here are trying to get to her before her real Ashikabi arrives so they can wing her for themselves."

The white haired woman's eyes went wide and her hands came to her mouth. "That's horrible! These people are trying to keep the Sekirei away from the one she's supposed to be with?"

"Yes. Am I to assume that you wouldn't do so?"

The woman became still, her express sliding into a more neutral one. "Of course not. I am not the kind of person who would steal away someone's beloved just so I could selfishly have them for myself." She smiled. "Unlike some people I might know."

Unlike the smile that had been warm and pleasant, this one filled Homura with an inexplicable feeling of dread. The only time he had ever felt something similar to this was when Miya was unleashing her Hannya technique. If fact, as he looked at the woman more, he could see that the alley behind her had become darker, and the shadows behind her writhed as if alive and filled with all the malice of the of the world. _Oh God, not anot__her one_, Homura thought desperately.

Despite the palpable malice, the woman continued in her sweet tone. "People like that are the lowest kind of people. They are not deserving of respect or mercy." She gave something a moment's thought before she said. "You have been fending off these people, yes? Would you perhaps want some help?"

"Uh, yes! Sure!" Homura yelped, hoping that this would make her stop the ominous shadow of doom.

The shadow did indeed recede and the warm smile returned. "Then I will be glad to help. I must thank you… Ano, what was your name?"

"Homura." The man breathed out.

"Homura. Thank you for telling me about this." She turned and began to walk away. "Come Akitsu. It seems that we have to take care of some business before we can find our destined ones."

"Yes mistress." The Sekirei said and she quickly fell in line behind her.

Homura breathed a sigh of relief as seeing them go. It was weird; the human had him far more worried than the Sekirei for some reason. He snorted to himself. _I've been m__eeting a lot of terrifying humans of late. The gods really do hate me._

He was about to leave on his patrol again when he noticed something. There had been a trash can sitting behind the pair which he had lost sight of when the shadows of doom appeared, but now that the woman was gone he still didn't see it. He moved forward to where it used to be and was surprised to find a dark pile of something in its place. He ran his hand through it and frowned as he brought the stuff up to his face.

"Ash?"

* * *

I ran through the woods as fast as I could without tiring myself out too quickly. After I had sorted things out with my mother, I had quickly departed for the Botainical Gardens to find the Sekirei. My sister (though she didn't fully understand what was going on) had wanted to come too, but Takami had quickly shot that down. It was somewhat reasonable, as there were going to be all sorts of shady characters there and she didn't want Yukari getting hurt. She had only let me go because I said that I would be meeting up with Homura when I got there. It was a lie, but I knew Homura would be busy protecting the entire garden in general and I couldn't exactly explain to my mother that I killed vampires for a living. So, that left me currently searching for the one who caused this massive flora growth on my own. There was just one small problem with that plan…

"I'm so freaking lost!" I yelled out in frustration. I really hated forests. Nothing good ever happens in forests. I might be slightly biased in this in that I have absolutely no sense of direction when it comes to heavily wooded areas, but still. Sometimes I wonder if I may have pissed off an Elemental of the woods at some point by burning so many trees down over the course of my relatively short life, but that is neither here nor there. What was important now was that I felt like I had been running around in circles for an hour and was no closer to finding the woman.

Though it seemed someone else found me, as a moment later I heard a voice say "Aww, can't the little human find his way through the woods?"

I jumped to the side, facing the direction the voice had come from and found a pair of women looking at me. The one who addressed me was a lithe blonde haired one in a stripped tank top with cut off sleeves, attached to which were a number if cords ending in blades. The second woman was in a shrine maiden outfit (seriously, what's with all the shrine maidens?) with dark hair, and she had a pair of katars attached to her arms.

I suppressed a grumble as I looked at them. I have been so distracted by my search that I hadn't been paying attention to all the Sekirei scents that had been moving around. "You shouldn't be so quick to make assumptions." I casually remarked. As far as I could tell, Sekirei didn't have a method to identify each other on sight, so for all they knew I could be one of them. I had closed my overcoat and pulled the hood up so that no one would be able to easily identify me, and as it was I was no more outlandishly dressed then Homura was when I first met him. Still, considering the fact the majority of Sekirei I had met so far were female, it was likely that the gender balance simply leaned in that direction.

"I 'assume' that you're trying to find the No. 108 before we do, and are sucking at it." The first one replied smugly, misinterpreting what I meant. She gathered the cords into her fingers and gave me a vicious grin. "That one belongs to my master, you twerp. I think I'll be proactive and kill off a potential Ashikabi before he can become a nuisance."

"Sai," the other one said nervously. "A-are you sure we should be doing this? We need to look for the 108."

The newly named Sai scoffed at this. "So what, Shi? We can get back to it after this guy is dead. It's not like this is going to take too long."

"A-alright." The second one looked back at me. "You're going to have to die now, I guess."

My fingers twitched at my side and I felt a very familiar sense of anticipation inside of me. I am not sure why, but almost every time I went into battle, I felt a sense of… delight I suppose I would call it. Perhaps it was my nature as a fire incarnation, the drive to burn and consume, to dance and simply exist on the edge of life and death. Even Nero, who had an inner fire which I was drawn too, sometime found it unsettling. It was thanks in no small part to that bit of my personality that I was known for… let's say, really loving my job.

Still, it would be prudent to make at least some effort to avoid conflict. Trying to keep the grin off my face, I replied "Now, now, there's no need to get lively. I don't suppose we could do this without any violence?"

Sai gave me a mocking laugh. "Oh, please. You think that we'll just walk away if a stupid little human pleads for his life? Just for that, I think I'm going to play with you a bit!" With that, she lashed out her arm and a trio of bladed whips came at me.

Well, with an invitation like that, how's a man supposed to refuse?

In an instant, six Black Keys slid from my sleeves into my hands, blades extending from the hilts just before I brought my arm up to knock away the incoming blades. The two Sekirei in front of me gave a start of surprise at this, and became even more wary as I started to chuckle. "Hehehe… Alright, but I'll have you take responsibility!" I cried out as I bust towards them at super-human speeds.

Exectuors we expected to engage things like heretics and vampires in combat, so while all were definitely highly skilled, they need something extra to level the playing field. As a magus I had some training in the Reinforcement technique to strengthen my body (though I was not nearly as proficient as some others at that particular magecraft), but like all other Executors I used Sacraments to enhance myself as well. In particular, we used Sigils.

Sacraments, being rituals, were somewhat impractical to use in combat, so those in the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament (naturally) devised a better way to empower it's agents in the field. Sigils are symbols used to represent certain entities and concepts, superficially similar to runes but working on a different Thuamaturgical Theory. The Sigils of archangels sewed into the insides of my holy garb were lesser copies of the much larger and more impressive Sigil arrays deep within the Vatican. Those have the actual Sacraments preformed on them, drawing in the energy created by the faith of some 2 billion Christians of various denominations worldwide. As the ones in my possession were copies of those holy objects, there were able to draw some of that power into themselves to perform their mysteries.

The truly amazing thing was that you didn't even need to have functioning magic circuits for it to work, all you needed to do was believe that it would. I would imagine that the Church would love to outfit all of its followers if it could, but unfortunately the power generated by the faith of all Christians, while large, is still finite. As such, it has just as much cause to keep the secret of magic as magi so that it's Executors and Exorcists could continue to work.

What all of that boiled down to at that moment was that the Sigil of Michael, Archangel of Might and Fire, was emblazed across my back and was allowing me to punch my fist full of blades at the alien creature in front of me at 200 kph.

However, Sai was quick enough to snap out of her surprise and jump back before I could skewer her. I was unable to pursue as a moment later I had to block a strike from a katar with the blades in my other hand. I brought my other arm under it to strike at Shi, but she merely jumped back as well, this time into a tree which she used to spring back at me. I deftly ducked to the side, but was again unable to counter attack as the bladed whips arced toward me and I had to deflect them with my Kevlar lined sleeve.

It went on like that for a while the two combats moving quickly and in concert to try and overwhelm me, but they were quite simply not good enough to do so. I wouldn't say that they were incompetent with their weapons (in fact I was sure that those whips were moving in a way that should have been impossible), but were inexperience with combat in general. It also didn't help that my close combat style with Black Keys focused on movement and using my rather large reach to its fullest effect. Shi just couldn't get close enough with her katars, and I was too good at judging the path of the whips to be hit by Sai.

The blonde one let out a growl of frustration. "Dammit! Just what the hell are you?! Are you a Sekirei?!" She then renewed her assault, sending the whips after me in even more complicated patterns. I was able to block or dodge most, but one of them got close enough to cut the buttons off my overcoat to reveal my priest uniform.

"I told you, you shouldn't make assumptions!" I shouted with a smile on my face. "**Praeuro Laminas!**" And with that, the blades in my hands ignited like they were bars of magnesium.

After fighting them for a while, I found that the two Sekirei were not a big enough threat to get me really excited. If that were the case, I probably would have started using my more powerful fire magecraft, and then the Elemental of the Forest that hated me would add another tick mark to its burned down forest counter. Still, such as it was they were still good enough that if I wanted to end this battle soon, I would need to up my game a bit. And I had just the thing in mind.

I cast out my arms and threw the Black Keys at the two Sekirei, turning the blades into fiery missiles. Again they managed to get out of the way, but this time not unscathed as a few of the blades managed glancing hits causing deep cuts and burns. The ones that missed continued until they hit tree or foliage causing bursts of flame to erupt where ever they hit. I quickly reached into my overcoat which Sai so helpfully opened and touched one of the Holy Scriptures lined on the inside of it. I channeled prana into the paper and drew out three more hilts from the nothingness in which they were stored, the blades extending and igniting the instant before I threw those as well.

After a few seconds, I had thrown a few dozen of the Black Keys around the area we were in, following the movements of the two women trying to avoid me. By the end of it, the three of us were standing in a small field of blades and small fires. The two Sekirei's bodies were covered in cuts and burns, their clothes not fairing any better. Shi in particular was trembling in fear. "W-we have to get out of here! I don't want to fight him anymore!"

"The hell we are!" Sai growled. "I'm not going to let this asshole Sekirei make a fool out of me! I'm going to kill you, you hear me!" She said, directing that last statement at me.

I chuckled. "Now, now, you're making assumptions again. What makes you think I would allow you to leave?"

"Damn it, stop screwing with us! I don't care that you can pull a bunch of flaming blades out of nowhere! I'm going to rip you to pieces!"

I put my hand up in front of me. "Ah, but you're missing the best thing about them."

"And what the hell is that?!"

"They explode." I snapped my fingers "**Displodo**."

"Wha-" that was as far as she got before the Black Keys nearest to them briefly glowed bright before bursting into fire and shrapnel. It was my own personal modification on the Cremation Sigil that were normally on the Black Keys which I was rather proud of. I would have to thank Ciel later for giving me the idea.

After the light and noise died away, I was left with a pair of bodies and a much larger fire than before. I quickly grabbed some more blades on the way to them to make sure that they were down, and that did indeed appear to be the case. They were alive, but in pretty bad shape. Turning away from them, I swiftly gathered the blades that were still intact and mutter a quick incantation to convert the fire around me into mana, pouring it into my command seal to give it to Nero.

I took a moment's pause in the sudden stillness I had created to try to figure out where to go next. I still didn't have any better clue as to which direction to go. That was solved a moment later when, through the smell of ash and smoke, I pick up the scent of flowers. I was a little confused at first as I wasn't sure how I could smell it, but a moment later I picked up the smell of honey that went with it. It was the smell of a Sekirei, and likely the one I was looking for.

It was also moving away, as seemed to have another Sekirei scent along with it. _Shit!_ I thought. _I took too long! Someone else got to her first!_ With that, I took off after the faint scent as fast as I could. I was not as fast as I wanted though, as I had to be carefully of not tripping on any upturned roots or bramble. I was still going faster that a normal human, but I was losing ground and the scent was fading.

A minute later, I saw a light up ahead and the trees began to thin out. I had reached the edge of the garden. A moment later I jumped out onto the street looking everywhere for a sign of where the Sekirei was taken. But I didn't find any. And the scent I had been using to track them had faded.

I had failed.

* * *

Mutsu calmly leaned against the car, his subdued demeanor a counterpoint for his much more excited master. Mikogami had sent Yomi out to find the Sekirei girl that had slipped away from them before, and now they were waiting to see if she had succeeded.

"Do you think she got the 108, Mutsu?" Mikogami asked, practically bouncing up and down in anticipation. "Oh, I can't wait to have such a powerful addition to my team!"

"We shall see." The Sekirei said neutrally. In truth, he really didn't think much of No. 43. She was a rather unpleasant girl who was too arrogant when it came to her own abilities.

So it came as some surprise to Mutsu when the scythe wielding Sekirei appeared before them from around the corner, all but dragging the small 108 behind her. "Master! I brought you her, like I said I would!" She turned and scowled at the little girl. "Come on you little brat! Don't keep my master waiting!"

The small blonde hair girl sniffed. With her eyes wet and her face red, it was clear that she had been crying. And with the bruise on her cheek, it was clear how Yomi had gotten her to stop.

Mutsu suppressed a grimace. He had always found his master's practice of forcibly winging Sekirei to be distasteful, but the male Sekirei found this situation to be a whole new level of wrong. Still, there was nothing he could do; his master wanted this Sekirei, so Mutsu would oblige.

However, that did not mean he wouldn't have a 'word' with Yomi over the treatment of the small girl.

Mikogami also noticed the bruise, though he had slightly different priorities. "Ah! You didn't damage my new Sekirei did you?" he said with some anger in his tone.

"Of course not, master." Yomi lied. "She merely tripped and landed on her clumsy face."

His master gave a sigh. "Well, it can't be helped." He knelt down and addressed the small blonde haired girl. "Now, how about we try this again? You're going to come with me."

The little girl shook her head violently and the tears began to flow again. "No! I want my Onee-san! Onee-san!"

"You little-!" Yomi said as she raised her scythe to chastise the young girl.

Before Mutsu could do anything though, a new voice spoke up from behind them. "Ara, I hope nothing unsavory is going on here."

Mutsu instantly moved to put himself in between the voice and his master. _No, it can't be_, he thought to himself. However, walking casually towards them was indeed No. 01, Miya Asama. He made particular note of the sheathed blade she carried in her left hand. "Ah, Mutsu-san." She said in a pleasant voice while touching her hand to the side of her face. "Long time no see. How have you been?"

"…" The male Sekirei was silent for a moment while he considered his options. "I've been alright. It's nice to see you too."

"Mutsu, who is this?" Mikogami asked curiously.

"Yeah, and who does she think she is butting into our business!" Yomi spouted angrily. "I think I'm going to teach her a lesson!"

Before she could move forward, Mutsu put his own blade out in front of her. "Do not attack the 01." He said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"W-what?! This old lady is the 01?!" Yomi said incredulously.

"Really?!" His master said with stars in his eyes. "That must mean she's really powerful. Mutsu, go get her for me!"

Mutsu resisted the urge to face palm at the reactions of his companions.

"Ah, that is a face I have missed." The former head of the Disciplinary Squad said cheerfully. Then her expression fell somewhat. "Though it seems you have fallen into some bad company."

"Listen you old crow-" Yomi began, but that was as far as she got.

Even Mutsu's combat hardened senses only managed to pick up a blur of movement before the scythe wielding Sekirei crumpled to the ground, Miya standing over her body with her still sheathed blade. "Ara, you shouldn't call me old. I'm a very young widow after all." He tone hadn't changed, but the threat of danger was still present.

The lavenderette turned away from the unconscious body and knelt before the very uncertain looking blonde child. "Hello little one. Would you like me to help you find your onee-san?"

The little girl looked uncertainly at the 01, then at Mutsu and Mikogami. She then threw herself into Miya's arms, deciding risk it with this new person rather than go with the people who had hurt her.

_This is bad_, Mutsu thought to himself. _I thought she didn't want any part of the Sekirei Pl__an. MBI will__ not stand of her interference._

"Hey! She was mine!" His master said petulantly. "Mutsu, go get her back!"

The male Sekirei paused uncomfortably. "I'm sorry master. I can't fight the 01."

"Why not?!"

Mutsu mind raced for an explanation that his Master would understand and accept. An idea came to him when remembered Mikogami's love of games. "She's the final boss of the Sekirei Plan. If we fight her now, the game will end."

"Oooh!" the boy said, as if that made perfect sense. "Well, I guess there's no helping it then. I shall see you at the Final Stage!" He said, dramatically pointing at Miya.

Miya giggled at this, but Mutsu was still serious. "Are you really making a move, 01?" he asked.

"Move? I don't know what you're talking about." She said while dismissively waving her sword around. "I was merely out for a walk when I encountered a lost little girl look for her onee-san."

He gave a grunt, knowing that MBI probably wouldn't buy that. "Why are you doing this? I thought you didn't want to get involved. What changed?"

Miya became silent, her demeanor shifting from cheerful to a more solemn one. After a moment, she finally said. "I've found that there is more in this world beyond this city we should be concerned about."

Mutsu gave a start of surprise at this. He had known the 01 long enough to know she meant that there was something beyond MBI that would affect their species. Another factor? Or perhaps another faction?

She continued on, her tone becoming more like the leader of the Disciplinary Squad he once knew. "If we wish to survive, it is unacceptable for us to continue like we are. Let my will be known to them, Mutsu: No more forced wingings. No more attacking humans. If not, they will have the 01 to answer to."

The male Sekirei could only feel a sense of nostalgia at the sense of command the woman before him radiated. It reminded him why she was the leader of their kind in the first place. He gave a short bow. "Yes, Miya-sama."

Her posture relaxed and the smile came back to her face. "Oh, and do come visit sometimes. It has been far too long since we've had tea." And with that she turned around, carrying a child in one arm and sword in the other, walking back to her inn to prepare for what she had started.


	11. Interlude

"Will that be all for your purchases, Nero-sama?"

The former Roman emperor looked carefully at the various bolts of cloth which she had selected from the store. She had chosen several different fabrics and colors, all of which she had plans for to make dresses and outfits. She eventually responded "Yes, this is everything I need." Nero then turned around and addressed the dozen or so people standing around her. "Now, that is enough for materials. Now we shall go shopping for clothes proper!"

A cheer rang out from the group, and the lot of them collected their things along with Nero's cloth and walked out the store with Nero in the lead. This being the shopping district of Shin Tokyo, she simply picked a direction and started walking, sure that the Fates would provide her with something new and novel.

When Nero had been summoned some 5 years prior the Grail have given her some basic information on what the world had become since her reign, but it was hardly enough to give her the true story of what the world was like. Since then she had learned many things about the current state of affairs, some which pleased her, some which didn't. But out of all the things she had discovered, there was one that still ranked as her favorite: capitalism.

Or more specifically, the economy and range of goods that capitalism provided. Truly, it was a shame that her Rome never managed to refine their forging techniques enough to start an industrial revolution, though she suspected that the use of slavery hindered it as well. Whatever the case, she had learned that the term 'shopping' had a completely different use in this time than the one she was from. It was no longer just a means to procure the things one needed.

It was and art form. And to Nero, there was nothing greater that art.

Nero stopped before a unique looking boutique which she had not seen before. "Yes, this shall do quite nicely, don't you think?"

"Ah! This is in fact one of my favorite places, Nero-sama!" said a girl at the front of group following her.

"Excellent. Onwards then!" As they moved into the store, Nero mused about the followers she had collected. Once she had truly understood what shopping was about, ever since then she had always attracted people to her on her outings. It was not something she intentionally did, but the other shoppers were drawn in to her radiance and skill, like moths to a flame. Shirou had jokingly referred to it as her 'Spontaneous Entourage' skill. It had happened enough times here that she had become something of an underground celebrity in Shin Tokyo, often resulting in her being given praise on the street, as was befitting of her.

She had never met the dozen or so people that were following her before today. I was possible that she would never see them again after this, either. But for these few glorious hours, they were her brothers and sisters. They were her fellow actors and comrades in this great performance called consumerism.

They broke up within the store, browsing its wares and offering advice to each other. After a while, something in particular caught the Servant's eye. "You there!"

The thing in question, which happened to be to be a high school girl wearing glasses that had been starting at her for some time, gave a squeak in surprise at being addressed. "M-me?"

"Yes you. Come here so that I may get a good look at you." The younger girl timidly crept forward and the emperor looked her over with a critical eye. "Hmm… oh yes, there is some potential here. What is your name?"

"Mimori…" The girl said shyly.

"Mimori-san, we are going to get you out of this bland outfit and put you into something more striking immediately."

The girl began to protest or something like that, but Nero wasn't having any of that, dragging her around the store to find the most suitable thing to bring out her features. She was somewhat pale and had medium length black hair, so the emperor felt some contrast was in order, perhaps with a little embellishment. After finding all the items she saw fit, she walked the two of them into the changing room. It was then Mimori finally decided to stop resisting, but insisted that she could dress herself, her face beet red as she did so.

A few minutes later the high schooler emerged, looking like a very different person. She wore a long black dress with white trim and some gold embroidery in a few choice places. This was matched with a pair of arm length black gloves and black scarf, which also had a small amount of embroidery. This was topped by a simple tiara of silver, letting her hair flow down and back.

Mimori stood in awe in front of a mirror, not seeming to believe the image that she made. "I, I look amazing! I never thought I could look this…"

"Beautiful?" Nero finished for her. "As an artist I have an eye for beauty, and I say that it would be a crime against you – nay, the world – if beauty such as yours was not recognized. This ensemble with be a good start for you to realize your potential."

The girl looked down at the ground, looking somewhat ashamed. "I-I'm sorry, but I can't afford this. I only come in here sometime to buy a small item or two."

The small blonde waved her hand dismissively. "Do not worry over such trifles. I shall pay for this vision to be realized."

"Really?!" Mimori said in complete surprise before a happy smile came over her face. "T-thank you, sempai!"

"Tch. Why would you bother with a frumpy looking thing like her?" Came a new voice. Turning around, the two saw a girl in very chique clothing and too much make up looking at them with a dour expression.

Mimori shed back a little. "Sayaka-san…" Apparently, she knew the girl, probably from school.

The other girl continued. "I mean, if you're going to spend all that money on something like her, you should buy this whole store for me."

Nero frowned at the newcomer. "If you cannot see the beauty that lies in front of you, than clearly you are beyond any help I could give. I would have hoped that critics like yourself would have disappeared by now, but it seems that is not the case."

Sayaka scowled her. "Hey! I'm way prettier than she could ever be!" She said while gesturing to the glasses wearing girl. "Why the hell am I not good enough for you?!"

"You are physically appealing, yes, but that attitude of yours is marring you. Beauty, while tantamount, is not just about physical appearances. It requires depth and soul, something which you are sorely lacking, little girl."

The girl growled at Nero, but said nothing, instead storming out of the shop. Mimori giggled a little. "She always liked to tease me for not being as pretty as her. It feels… good to have someone say otherwise."

"I am merely stating that which should be obvious to the world." The emperor replied.

The next hour or so was filed with much browsing and trying on clothes, both for herself and her 'entourage'. She was making her purchases when she suddenly felt a large amount of prana flow into her. Considering how much it was, it was likely that Shirou had converted some fire into mana. And he usually did that after…

Nero gave a grimace. It didn't necessarily mean that he was in trouble, but she did remember hearing something about the botanical gardens suddenly becoming a veritable jungle and a lot of strange things happening there in the past few hours. If there were Sekirei involved, it was likely that her master had thrown himself into it again. She really wished he would at least call her before he did things like that.

She sighed and asked one of the group present to send all that she bought that day to her address before taking off, hoping she wouldn't have to bail her master out of some trouble of his own making.

Again.


	12. Chapter 9

I continued to search the area for another thirty minutes, but I still couldn't find any trace of where the 108 had been taken. Tracking was not exactly a skill of mine, and even with my magical sense of smell I couldn't pick up anything. I did sense a few other Sekirei moving around the edges of my perception, but most seemed to be moving away, as if they already knew it was pointless to keep looking. Frustration over the fact that I had let my sister down caused me to almost not notice when Nero suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Is there battle to be joined, Praetor?" She asked, her eyes gazing around the street for potential threats.

I had to keep myself from jumping in surprise at seeing her. "Nero? What are you doing here? I thought you had gone out shopping." Indeed, she had not yet materialized her standard battle clothes, instead wearing a much more conservative (for her) red tank top with a long swath of red cloth functioning as a lopsided skirt.

"I received the prana that you sent me through the command seal. Considering the circumstances, I came to the conclusion that you had been using your magecraft for combat purposes and it got away from you. Like it normally does." She arched an eyebrow at me. "Am I incorrect?"

I gave my wife a grimace. "No, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I then told her about how MBI told everyone where the last Sekirei was, how my sister had been the one she was reacting to, and how I had lost her.

After she contemplated this for a moment, she asked "Well, then what is to be done now?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "By now it's probable that she has already been winged. I'll ask Homura if there is any way to reverse it, but given how he described it before, that seems unlikely. And given the fact that she was the one who created that forest in a matter of minutes, the results could be catastrophic if we wait too long."

The two of us shared a grim look. If the Ashikabi who claimed her was of the destructive sort, he could easily use her power to cause an untold amount death within a densely populated city like this one. If that was case, then I would have to… eliminate the problem. And since Homura told me that the death the Ashikabi results in the termination of the Sekirei, I would be forced to put down the 108 either way.

It was then that my phone began to ring and distracted me from my unsavory thoughts. Unfortunately it turned about to be my mother calling, and the thought of having to tell her how I lost the Sekirei wasn't much better. I pressed the receive button. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I lost her."

"I know," came a rather dry response from the phone. "Yukari found her."

I blinked a few times in surprise before saying "Wait, what? How?"

"Apparently the psychic connection with the 108 was strong enough that she was able to get a direction. And then she just took off." She muttered with some annoyance.

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Takami, last I saw, the 108 was being taken by another Sekirei. Is Yukari-"

"Stop worrying, she fine. Someone else happened to rescue Kusuno."

I didn't recognize the name, but I guessed that was the name of the 108. "Who saved her?"

There was a pause. "Why don't you just come meet us. Do you know of the Izumo House, where Homura lives?"

"I'm… familiar with it. Why are you there?"

"Just… get here as soon as you can. The landlady won't let me inside." With that, she hung up.

* * *

Nero and I made it to the inn in short order, though it appeared I was not the first to do so. I had given a call to both Rin and Homura to regroup at the inn, and it seemed that Rin managed to make it back before I did. She, along with her Sekirei, Miya, my mother, and my sister were standing in the front yard conversing with each other. I didn't know what was being said, but Rin and Takami were annoyed, Yukari and Musubi were excited, and Miya was amused.

Yeah, that seemed about right.

"…Honestly," I heard Rin say as soon as I got within range, directing her voice at my sister. "Who just up and grabs a woman's breast when they first see her? I would have thought you would have had some sense of modesty."

"This coming from the woman who was in a pile of naked people when I first met her." Takami remarked.

"T-that wasn't what it looked like!"

"It looked like a group hug to Musubi! So Musubi joined in!"

"Ara, how is it so many perverted people have come to my home?" Miya asked with mock shame. "Any more and the neighbors will think I run a house of ill-repute."

As this point I was close enough to join the conversation. "Future possible uses of the inn aside, what are you two doing here?" I pointed at my family.

Yukari spoke up. "Shirou! It turns out that I had this awesome psychic connection thing that let me home in on the Sekirei! It led me here, and it turned out that Miya-dono rescued her from some bad people!"

"Really?" I asked in surprise as I looked at the landlady. "I wasn't aware you had any intention of getting yourself involved in this."

"I've come to a decision." She replied. "We can talk about it later in private."

"Hmp. So you have been here before." My mother said before eyeing me with suspicion. "Well, never mind that. Minato, just where is Homura? You said that you were going with him."

"We, uh, separated before we came here. He said something about wanting to make sure that there were no other unwinged in the area." I lied, hoping she would buy that.

It was of course at that moment Homura appeared, dropping down near us from the roof of a nearby building. "Well, it's good to see that you're alright." He grumbled at me. "But I still think you shouldn't have gone off on your own."

I gave the man a flat look. Well, that hope just up and died.

It was then the fire Sekirei seemed to notice the rest of the people gathered there. "Takami? What are you doing here?"

"Apparently, beating some sense into a fool hardy idiot." She growled before she cracked her knuckles and began to advance on me in a rather threatening manner.

As I backed away with my hands up, Homura titled his head to the side in confusion. "Ok, I think I'm missing some context here."

Still keeping an eye on Takami, I said. "Remember how I said my mother works for MBI?"

"Yeah, but what does that-" He cut himself off, and a moment later the realization hit him. "Wait, _she's_ your mother?!"

"Yes, now can you please help me convince her not to hurt me?" I said frantically, wondering if I should try hiding behind Nero to avoid my mother's wrath.

Thankfuly, it was Miya who came to my rescue. "Takami-san, do I have to remind you that violence is forbidden in the Izumo House?" The aura of darkness began to form as she said this.

Strangely enough, my mother didn't seem particularly affected, but still stopped and turned to the landlady. "Technically, were not in the Izumo House," she said with a grumble. "You keep refusing to let me inside!"

"I will not have anything from MBI in my home." She responded coolly, though the aura dissipated. "Your children and their Sekirei are welcome to stay, but you are not."

I had known that there was some kind of animosity between Miya and the company, but it seemed a little excessive to not let my mother into her home. In spite of that though, I ended up latching on to something else the landlady said. "By the way, just where is the 108? I would have thought she would be with you." I said to my sister.

Yukari smiled and pointed down and to the side. "She's right here. Say hello to Kuu-chan!" My gaze traveled downward and I saw a small blond haired girl which I had completely missed before partially hiding behind Yukai's leg. "Isn't she adorable? Now I have an imouto of my very own!"

I was struck silent by this new development, my eyes widening in surprise. I knew that the 108 would be the young, but I didn't know she would be a child. I mean, I didn't give much thought to the fact that both she and my sister were female (Yukari always struck me as being a little… flexible when it came to sexual orientation), but I would have at least thought that a biological reaction that involved mating would at least waited until puberty. I was sudden glad that Yukari had taken to seeing the girl as a little sister, as there would have been rather… unfortunate implications otherwise.

The girl in question looked up and me and gave me a somewhat fearful glance. "Onee-chan, he's scary…" she said as she moved back behind my sister's legs. I suppressed a grimace. I didn't have a problem with the way I looked, but was aware that the numerous burn scars I carried often unsettled the people around me, especially small children.

Yukari looked down at the girl. "He's not scary, he's my gentle onii-chan!"

I ignored Rin's scoff at this comment (mostly likely at the gentle part) and turned back to the landlady. "Look why don't we take this inside. All of us." I insisted in spite of Miya's frown. "If we stay out here much longer, we're going to attract some unwanted attention."

"Too late." I heard Nero say in a serious tone. I turned to see what she was talking about and found Karasuba standing outside the fence to the inn.

"Well, well," The grey haired woman said while she thumbed the hilt of her sword. "I was expecting something a bit more dramatic for when you finally decided to take action, but I'll take it where I can get it."

The air around us suddenly became much colder, and I became very aware of how Miya scent suddenly spiked in intensity. Her tone was calm, but hard. "It seems that I will have to take out the trash before we continue our discussion." She said as she walked toward the gate.

"Ah, and it looks like we have an audience too." Karasuba continued, seemingly ignoring the threating presence. "Hello Mu-chan. Everything is well I hope?"

"Hello Karasuba-san!" Musubi said excitedly, also not noticing the tension in the air. "Everything is great! I've found my destined one!" She pointed at Rin.

My mother on the other hand did notice the barley contained malice Miya was emanating and quickly put herself in between the two Sekirei. She briefly turned to Miya to say "Wait, don't do anything rash," Before turning to the grey haired woman and adopting a much more stern tone. "Karasuba, what are you doing here? No one authorized you to enter the 01's territory. You are not to antagonize her into action."

"Oh? If she hadn't already taken action, then I doubt that you would be here either, Takami-chan." Karasuba replied with a coy grin. "She interfered with the Plan by taking the 108. That's a clear act of aggression."

My mother frowned. "She was bring Kusuno to the person she was reacting to. How is the possibly an act of aggression."

The grey haired woman's smirk became condescending. "We both know that making sure the Sekirei went with the one's they were reacting to was never one of the rules. And now that she's acted against the plan, well, I've heard that the Director started stage two early."

"What?! You mean that idiot has already started deploying MBI's military personnel?!"

"With a thing like the 01, you need to bring all you have to bear." Karasuba said with an almost knowing smile.

"That would be pointless! All it would serve to do is wreck half the city!"

"So what?" The other woman asked, clearly not caring about the lives that would be ended. "It's not like anything worth a damn would be lost. Besides," as she said this, her grin turned vicious and her own scent began to spike. "it might be kind of fun."

Suddenly feeling worried about my mother standing between these two very powerful aliens wishing violence on each other, I decided to step up and try to draw attention away from her. "I feel obligated by my job to point out that I would have problems with that."

Karasuba looked at me with mild amusement. "Oh, hello Minato-chan. What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, I was just out for a jog and I stopped in to say hello." I frowned. "And it's Kotomine to you. Only my mother gets to call me Minato."

"Is that so? And what if I want to have fun anyway?"

I move closer to her. "I seem to remember telling you what humans do to things like you. Have you really forgotten already?"

Her hand drifted to her blade. "I remember. I'm just curious what other little tricks you can pull out of your sleeves."

For the second time that day, I felt the thrill for battle build inside me. Those two I had fought in the garden were little more than thugs, strong but not skilled. This one? I could tell that she knew how to fight and loved every second of it. If I didn't take her seriously, I would get myself killed. Of course, knowing this only made me more excited. "Again, you seem to be underestimating me. None of the tricks I can do are 'little'."

"Then just what are you?"

A grin that mirrored her's split my face, and she was surprised when I said my next sentence in English. "_I am the fire that burns away the dark_." In an instant the air around me changed, the heat pouring off my body causing it to ripple and shimmer.

Karasuba's surprise lasted only a moment before the smile returned, this time more manic than before. Her face became flushed and her breath became short as she said "Yes, that's it. Show me that fire in your eyes once more."

My body tensed, and mind sped through all the possible opening moves we could make. She slowly began to draw her sword-

"Shirou!/Karasuba!" The two of us blinked at the same time as two different voices called out our names. We turned to see both Takami and Rin glaring at us. It was my mother who spoke first. "Karasuba, I am ordering you to stand down and return to MBI. I don't care what you want; if you cause so much as a nose bleed, I will hand you over to Mr. Black. And we both know that you will not enjoy what he would do to you."

For the first time I had met her, Karasuba put on a look of annoyance. She looked back at me and Miya, as if weighing her options. I had no idea who 'Mr. Black' was but apparently he managed to give her pause for some reason. After a moment, she muttered "Tch." before putting her sword back in in her scabbard. "Well, I guess this isn't the best stage anyway. I'll be looking forward to the next time we meet, 01." She spared a glance at me, and the flush returned. "And I will definitely be looking forward to seeing you again, Koto-kun."

She turned and walked away, though I still didn't relax. I wasn't certain, but I think she was flirting with me. I really wished I could say this was the first time one of my opponents had taken an interest in me like that, but no. I gave a sigh. "Why do I keep attracting the crazy ones?"

"You have some rather striking features which women would find attractive." I blinked in surprise and turned to find that it was Homura of all people who had commented. He continued in a dry tone. "Plus the burn scars give you a rather dangerous and manly look."

I was struck speechless for a moment at this comment before saying "Well, thanks, I guess. I didn't think you appreciate my looks that much."

He looked confused for a moment before he seemed to realize the implications and his face turned red. "W-what? No! I didn't- what I meant was that objectively speaking, you uh…"

He sputtered like that for a bit, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted. Rin, having spared moment to stare in bewilderment at the fire Sekirei as well, then turned back to me and said "You stupid Pryo! What the hell were you thinking picking a fight with that crazy woman?! In broad daylight?!"

I gave her a small frown. "I was trying to keep things from escalating."

This, of course, caused the small magus to growl and reach up with her hands as if to strangle me. "How. Could that possibly. Keep things from escalating?!" she ground out between her teeth.

"You heard what she said. The consider Miya to be a big enough threat to deploy a small army against her. If she and Karasuba got into a fight, there's no telling how many would get caught in the crossfire from the armed forces mobilizing. However, if she was busy fighting me instead, then MBI wouldn't do anything too drastic."

Rin stared at me dumbly for a moment before putting her head into her hands. "How can you be so smart yet so stupid at the same time?" She muttered "First of all, since when have your fights not resulted in excessive collateral damage?" I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, and she continued. "Secondly, just what were you going to do about that fact that you were going to expose certain abilities in front of her?" She then pointed at my mother, who was now focused on me rather intensely. Or rather, focused on the aura of heat was still giving off.

Oh. Right… whoops.

"Minato, what 'abilities' are she talking about? And just how the hell are you doing that?"

I let my circuits die down as I stuttered "Uh, well, you see, it's not what you-"

Of course, then my sister helpfully chimed in "Oh my God onii-chan has superpowers! He probably works for a secret order of priests that goes around the word fighting crime and monsters and saving women to add to their harems and-"

She continued to babble like this, and I gave a defeated sigh. I gave Rin a pleading look and gestured at my sister, to which she rolled her eyes and nodded before moving towards her. In turn, I moved closer to my mother. "Mom, there is a perfectly good explanation for all this." As I looked her in the eyes, I channeled some prana to my own eyes. "This is all just a dream, and when you wake up, everything will be fine."

"Do you really expect me to… believe… that… non…" My mother trailed off before slumping forward into my arms, my hypnotism sending her to sleep. It wasn't exactly my specialty, but seeing as how I was not always the best at being discreet, I had gotten a lot of practice with memory spells over the years.

"Ara, that seems like a useful ability." Miya remarked with both interest and amusement.

"Makes it a lot easier to keep up the masquerade." I replied. "Now, will you please let me put her inside? I really don't want to have to carry her somewhere else."

Miya frowned before giving a sigh. "Very well, I will make an exception just this once."

"Thank you." I looked over at Rin to see her finish doing the same thing to Yukari, while Musubi was keeping Kusuno from becoming distraught about her new onee-san going to sleep. I wasn't exactly sure if it would be necessary to do the same thing to the two Sekirei (or if it would even work), but I decided to leave that for later. "Now let's get inside before more crazy people show up."

Unfortunately, as if on cue, it was then the door the inn burst open, revealing a woman wearing a cheongsam and glasses, with long auburn hair done in a braid. She also had the scent of a Sekirei about her, and if I remembered correctly, this was one of the three I had sensed the first night I had come to the inn.

The woman was also looking very flushed and was staring at me. It made me feel kind of uncomfortable actually. "Uh, hello." I said after a moment's pause.

"Shirou Kotomine Sahashi." She replied. "A man of strange origins, thought dead in the Fuyuki City Fire 15 years ago. Found and raised by Kirei Kotomine, was regarded as a delinquent for most of his life before becoming employed as a Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church." A she said this she moved closer to me, I could see that she was short of breath, almost panting. "Recent information has revealed that he is part of secret order of mages tasked with protecting humanity from monstrous creatures, and was likely involved in the number of mysterious incidents that occurred in Fuyuki city 5 years ago. Has been shown to show no fear in the face of overwhelming danger." She stopped in front of me, her panting making it very hard not to stare at the motion her rather sizable bust was making. "And, he is really, really hot. No 02, Matsu, gives herself to him so that he can have his hot, manly way with her."

She started to lean towards me with her lips pursed for a kiss, and I in a somewhat panicked moment realized that I couldn't properly move away from her while still carrying my unconscious mother. Fortunately, I was spared from this dilemma a moment later as a ladle of all things appeared out of nowhere and hit the woman on the head. Miya, who was wielding the dreaded implement, said "Matsu-chan, it seems you finally came out of your room just to do something lewd. You know such things are forbidden in the Izumo House." The familiar specter of the Hannya mask appeared over her shoulder, its eyes bleeding and whispers of doom rolling from its tongue.

I looked on nonplussed as the landlady chastised the bespectacled woman, who was now cowering in fear rather than trying to latch onto me. Considering the day I had had, I wasn't really sure if I should be surprised by this sort of thing anymore. Eventually I became aware of Nero standing beside me, her expression thoughtful as she observed the scene before her. "Hmm, It is a most fascinating technique. I believe I shall learn it."

"Please don't." I said with a shudder. "It was bad enough when you tried to learn how to Warp Spasm from Caster."

* * *

Rin sat it the dining room of the inn, along with the rest of the residents. Well, almost, as the lazy brunette who lived here wasn't in at the moment for whatever reason. Regardless, they had deposited the sleeping forms of Shirou's mother and sister in one of the spare rooms, and the young child had decided to plop right down and fall asleep next to her new Ashikabi. Shirou and Nero had stepped off to the side to discuss something in hushed tones, and the rest of them sat around the table looking at the newest person which had entered their lives.

"I'm really sorry about that, Miya-tan," the woman named Matsu said. "I was just watching what was happening on the video feeds, and when Shirou-tan stared down Karasuba," she shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, I just lost control of myself. I knew I was reacting to him, but I wasn't going to do anything about it for another few days."

"Wait, video feeds?" Rin asked with some concern.

"Yes! Matsu-tan has cameras everywhere in the inn!" She said proudly, before she looked nervously at the landlady. "Oh, and you don't have to worry about me saying anything. I've, uh, been told to be discrete."

Rin looked at the landlady's 'innocent' smile. "I'll bet."

"So, what's Shirou-tan like?" Mastsu asked eagerly.

This surprised Rin somewhat. "Huh? I thought you had all that information on him already."

"Well, yeah, but that's just the basic stuff. In truth, I really wouldn't know much about him if he already hadn't given… certain bits of information about himself when he was here."

Rin paused for a moment and spared a glance at the man in question. While she couldn't make out what was being said, she saw Nero make a comment with a slight smirk, and Shirou responded heatedly while gesturing at Rin. He then caught himself mid-sentence and glanced over at Rin as a flush crept over his face, as if he had said something embarrassing.

She turned away from him, her face most definitely not heating up at the thought of what he might have said about her. "H-he's a passionate person. He often goes with his first instinct rather than thinking things out. And it usually gets him into trouble."

Matsu giggled at this. "Fufufufu… does that mean he's passionate at other things as well?"

Rin's face flushed at the implication. "H-h-how would I know?! It's not like I did anything like that with him! And if I did, it would only have been because I had to!"

The bespectacled woman blinked at this. "Uh, Matsu didn't mean that you-"

"Well good! Because I didn't! Now let's stop talking about it!"

The rest of the room sat in confusion for a few moments, and fortunately for Rin it was then Shirou and Nero came back to the table, thus cutting off any further questions on the matter. "Ok, thank you for waiting for me. So, I think a more proper introduction is in order."

"Of course, of course! I am No. 02, Matsu. I'm a brain type Sekirei whose ability is to access electronic devices remotely. In other words, I'm best used for information gathering."

Shirou hummed that this. "That's… actually really useful. Especially considering what I'm up against."

Matsu nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes! If you're going to go against MBI, you wouldn't be able to do it without my help!"

Shirou grimaced at this for some reason, but before he could voice why, the front door opened and a voice rang out "I'm back from the hospital!" A moment later the lazy resident entered the dining room. "Huh, what's everyone doing here? Matsu? What are you doing out of your room?"

"Matsu-tan is reacting to Shirou-tan! He is going to be her Ashikabi!"

"Really? Damn, you work fast, bro." She proceeded to give Shirou a small pout. "Aww, have you already given up on trying to get me into your harem?" She said in fake disappointment.

Shirou gave her a small smile. "First of all, we both know it's only a matter of time before I seduce you with my roguish charms." He replied coyly. "Secondly, we're not certain about me becoming her Ashikabi just yet."

"What?! Why aren't we?!" Matsu said franticly.

"Sahashi-kun! It's not right to play with a maiden's heart like that." Miya admonished, though she was rather light hearted about it.

Shirou ignored her and continued. "There's something important we have to go over, and once we're done, you need to decide if you want to be winged by me."

Matsu blinked at this. "Wait, so you are going to wing me?"

"Yes, but only if you want me to."

"Oh! Well of course Matsu-tan wants you too. Why wouldn't I?"

Shirou shifted uncomfortably. "Matsu, how do you feel about me?"

Again, the Sekirei was surprised about this statement. "Well, Matsu-tan feels a lot of things for Shirou-tan. Like how she wants to experiment on him!" She launched into another series of perverted giggles.

"Is that it? Is it purely a physical attraction?"

She paused for a moment before saying "No. When Matsu-tan looks at you, she wants to be with you, and be happy with you."

Shirou once again gave a sigh. "I was told that when Sekirei bond with someone, it changes them to become ever caring of their Ashikabi. Essentially, they fall in love with them, correct?" Matsu gave an uncertain nod. "Well, I don't love you."

Rin frowned at this. She probably should have mentioned that he could also be blunt to the point of insulting.

Matsu flinched back at this statement, but still said "W-well, I guess that's to be expected. I mean, you only met me a few minutes ago-"

"It's not just that." He said. "Look, from what little I've seen of you, you seem to be a nice person. However, that doesn't mean I'll love you. I may never fall in love with you, or reciprocate the feelings you have for me."

There was a stunned silence for a moment before there was a loud slam and everyone jumped. The noise was made by Musubi, who had slammed her fists into the table. "That's not right, Shirou-san! You're Matsu-san's destined one! You're supposed to be with her!"

The man's features hardened. "I already found my destined one." He replied and pointed to Nero, who was staying silent. "Are you suggesting that I give up my wife to elope with someone I just met?"

"Of course not! You should just love both of them!"

The man didn't seem to expect that response. He was taken back for a moment before he continued, but the hardness was gone from his voice. "I don't think it's that simple, Musubi."

"Why not?" Matsu asked, clearly becoming distraught by this.

"Because I love Nero. Because whatever feeling I may develop for you, I will almost always put her first. I'm sorry, I really am, but that's just kind of the person I am."

"Shirou," Homura said. "I know that you just trying to be kind, but this is more like cruelty. If you don't wing her, she'll have to choose someone that isn't as suitable as you."

"That might be for the best." He responded to the surprise of everyone present. "Even if I am the best suited to her, she deserves someone who will be able to treat her like a whole person rather than part of one. I don't know if I can have multiple partners and treat everyone the way they deserve. Even if she goes with someone not as suitable, she might be happier overall."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence after that. Eventually, the bespectacled woman said in a small voice "So now what?"

"Now you have to choose, remember? I said that I was willing to be your Ashikabi, but you have to make the final call. Do you still want to be my Sekirei, even though I might never feel for you the same way you do for me?"

Matsu was silent for a long while before she removed her glasses and looked directly at Shirou. "I have never really thought about what situation the person I was reacting to might be in when I met him." She said, all trace of her childish intonation gone. "I don't think any of us Sekirei do. Reacting is just a part of us, thinking about doesn't even factor in. I suppose the human way makes more sense logically; getting to know each other, finding out what works and what doesn't." Her face became resolute. "But I am not a human. I am Sekirei. I cannot deny that part of who I am. And so, in spite of the fact that you may be logically correct and that I would have a better chance at finding happiness with someone else, I choose you to be my Ashikabi. I have faith that you will be the one to bring this Matsu happiness."

Shirou listened to this with a serious expression before finally nodding. "Very well. If that is your choice, I will wing you now."

"…thank you." She said, and she moved over to his side of the table before kneeling down next to him. "No. 02, Matsu, will be yours," she said as she leaned in for a kiss. When their lips met, wings of angular orange light erupted from her back. Rin could make out the Sekirei seal hovering over her back before disappearing along with the wings. Matsu pulled back, and there was a single tear flowing down Matsu's cheek. "…forever and ever."

The Sekirei's melancholy was quickly replaced with surprise when a pair of arms wrapped around her midsection and Nero's head came to rest on her shoulder. "Do not worry. My husband is merely underestimating his capacity for love. I am sure that he will come around in time."

"Didn't I tell you to let me talk for this?" Shirou said with a small frown.

"Yes, and you did. Now it is my turn to give the poor girl some hope."

"Eh… heh heh…" The chuckle came from Matsu as she put her glasses back on. "Well, if Shirou-tan won't play with me, then maybe I'll just have to play with Nero-tan instead!" she then spun in Nero's arms and started grabbing some inappropriate places. Nero of course didn't mind in the slightest.

As Rin sat back and let the chaos unfold, she couldn't help but look at Shirou and the solemn look he had on his face. She couldn't help but wonder if something like what he had said today was going on in his mind all those years ago with her, Nero and Sakura.

* * *

Minaka stood on the roof of the MBI building, bathed in the light of several spotlights as usual. However, this time he was not making any grand statement. This time he was simply staring out at the edge of the city, catching a glimpse of the MBI private military forces setting up the perimeter.

It was too soon, in his opinion. "I do wish to see the New Age of the Gods as soon as possible, but don't you think we're rushing things a bit?"

"We had no choice," said a voice from the shadows. "The 01 is far too dangerous to leave unchecked. This will give her pause, and give us more time to move into position."

Minaka stared into the shadows, but could not see the man. The two made an interesting contrast; one a seeker of the light, attention and glory, the other a dark figure who preferred to work behind the scenes. Mr. Black, as he liked to be called, was his partner in the great endeavor of restoring mankind to its former glory. One might wonder why Minaka would need anyone to help him with his plan. After all, he had money, power, and the most advanced technology in the world. What could this man possibly have to offer?

One could say what Mr. Black offered was mysteries.

Minaka gave his shadowy compatriot a frown. "I am still drawing the line at getting rid of Shirou Sahashi. I have plans for that one."

"Kotomine is much more dangerous than you think, as is the organization he works for. Just a week ago he killed one of my messengers who just arrived in the city. Though not before he delivered what he was supposed to, fortunately."

"Forgive me if I don't feel particularly sad at your loss" The Director replied, having an idea of just what that messenger was. "I promise not to underestimate him or the Vatican. I have come too far to be stopped."

"You mean 'we'. And I am glad to hear that." Mr. Black grinned, and in spite of the shadows, Minaka could see the too sharp canines. "Let this festival of old glories continue."


	13. Chapter 10

Homura sat up in his bed, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes. He stretched, and found his body to be tight all over. This was odd, as he hadn't been as active as he used to be. It had been about a week since the incident with the 108 and Karasuba, and since then the Sekirei Plan seemed to just grind to a halt. It wasn't just MBI moving up to stage two so quickly and deploying their armed forces (though that was probably part of it), but rumors had begun circulating among the Sekirei. The few he had managed to run into said that 01 had returned to take charge and that all that opposed her, any that broke her laws would be cut down. He had heard a few different versions of the tale, but all of them said that she would not tolerate forced wingings and unnecessary violence. No one was quite sure if the Plan itself qualified as unnecessary, so everyone was keeping their head down. The city had almost become peaceful.

Except for of course the undercurrent of tension flowing through it. Homura found the situation rather similar to the Cold War between America and Russia. If either MBI or Miya made a hostile move, the other would retaliate and there would be a massive amount of collateral that neither wanted. Miya and Takami (when the latter had woken up) went over the informal truce that had been set up the day the former had left MBI. Nothing was really accomplished other than opening negotiations that went nowhere, so neither one did anything. Still the fire Sekirei doubted that MBI was doing nothing. He was sure that there were a number of more subtle plans at work, trying to find a way to break the stalemate. Hell, that's just what his Ashikabi was doing too.

Homura gave a frown and idly scratched at his chest as he thought about Shirou, or more accurately, tried to avoid thinking about how much danger he was probably putting himself in. Wondering just why the hell he felt so stiff worked nicely. It was like his shirt was too small for some-

Homura looked down at his torso and stopped scratching. His shirt was too tight. And although it wasn't too pronounced, on his chest were two distinct lumps.

His eyes widened and his face paled before he scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the bathroom. _Oh god no! __It's happening again!_ He thought desperately. The male Sekirei had always been different from the rest of his kind in that his adjustments had made him a bit more physically… malleable than he should be. He had asked his adjusters to just make him male to be done with it, but he still occasionally started expressing female traits every now and then. They would go away eventually, but he had hoped that by being winged his body would stabilize along with his powers. If he was still suffering from physical changes after he was winged…

Thankfully, there was no one in the bathroom when Homura entered. He closed the door, walked up to the mirror and all but ripped open his shirt to find a pair of…

…surprisingly well-toned pectorals?

Homura blinked in surprise for a moment before poking at his chest, and finding that there was indeed firm muscle on his upper body. He now noticed that his shirt wasn't just tight over his chest, but his whole torso. The man quickly removed the rest of his shirt and gaped at what he saw in the mirror. In addition to his chest, he also had a six pack on his abdomen and noticeably larger biceps. It wasn't a body builder's frame to be sure, but it was a far step up from what he should have been. Homura has always been on the androgynous side of male, being somewhat featureless.

But now? Now he had _definition_. And that definition was man.

"Well," Homura muttered to himself as he gave his new muscles an experimental flex. "This is unexpected."

"Huh. Never figured you for the vain type, Homura." said a voice from the doorway.

The man jumped at barely stopped himself from letting out a yelp of surprise. He spun in place to find Uzume standing in the doorway to the bathroom. He knew he should have locked the door. "U-Uzume! What are you doing in here?!"

"I saw you bolt in here like you pants were on fire, so I wanted to see what was up." The woman then blinked in surprise before she let out a low whistle and a leer formed on her face. "Damn bro, have you been working out? Cause I remember you being a lot skinnier than that. Then again, I think you looked better as a bishounen, but that's just personal tastes taking."

"Uh… thanks, I think." Homura replied, not really sure how to take the situation. It wasn't like he disliked being lithe, but now that he had apparently gained a few pounds of muscle, he was starting to think he could get used to it. It was certainly much better than growing breasts again.

Uzume gave a low chuckle before turning around. "Well, just don't take too long admiring yourself. You still gotta shave and the rest of us need the bathroom too."

"Shave?" the man questioned. He turned around and found that he did indeed have a five o'clock shadow forming on his jaw. _I can grow facial hair now_, he thought in wonder.

It was a while later that Homura managed to get himself cleaned up and head to the dining room. Picking clothes for the day was a bit more problematic than usually due to his new frame. It wasn't like his cloths didn't fit him any more (the change wasn't that drastic), they were simply tighter than he would have liked. He didn't have to go to work that day, so he opted for a simple white tee instead of his usual buttoned shirt.

He wasn't completely surprised to find his Ashikabi in the dining room setting down plates of food for breakfast. After she had winged Kusuno, his sister had opted to live at the inn for the duration of the Plan. Takami had been somewhat distraught at this considering Miya's now direct involvement, but had relented as it was still probably the safest place in the city. Homura had asked her why she couldn't just stay with Shirou, but all he got were mutters of "fool hardy idiot walking blindfolded through a mine field". So, given the fact that both his sister and his oldest friend were staying at the inn, it made sense that he would spend most of his time there.

Well, there was also the fact that both of his Sekirei lived there too. It wasn't a big deal for Homura, but he knew that Matsu was having a hard time. To be sure, she tried to keep a positive attitude and interact with Shirou as much as possible, and for his part he reciprocated. However, he never failed to make it clear how far was too far, and it pained Homura to see the hacker upset. While he really wished that Shirou would reciprocate fully, he knew that he was already being more than reasonable considering the fact that he was already married. Though it was worth noting that his wife was actually encouraging Matsu for whatever reason. Nero was a strange woman.

Shirou looked up as he noticed the Sekirei walk into the room. "Good morning, Homura. I see Uzume wasn't kidding when she said you had bulked up. Did you decide to grow a beard to add to the manliness?" He said, gesturing to the scruff on Homura's face.

The other man rubbed his chin. "I was thinking I would give it a shot." Well, in reality there was nothing he could do about it at the moment as he had never needed to shave before and thus had no means of changing it, but Shirou didn't need to know that.

The deacon gave a small smirk. "Well, I like it. I think it suits you. Then again, I never really cared for bishounens, but that's just personal tastes talking."

Homura arched an eyebrow at that, but decided not to comment on it. "So, what are you doing here so early? Usually you don't show up until after breakfast."

"Well, Rin and I are going to do a strategy session with Mastu to figure out the best course of action. Matsu insisted that we get an early start, and Rin then insisted that if that was the case, I was going to make breakfast."

"Huh? Why's that?"

Before Shirou could respond, Homura heard a low moan from behind him. "Uuuuhhhh…" He spun around and for a moment thought that he was seeing another zombie, but he thankfully paused long enough before incinerating it to realize that it was Rin. Her hair was mussed and her eyes drooped with drowsiness. "Teeeeaaaaa…" she moaned before shuffling over to the teapot Shirou had put down on the table.

"That's why." He replied, a small amount of pride detectable in his voice. "Sleep well?" He asked the woman in a sweet tone.

She grumbled darkly in response before pouring herself a cup and taking a sip. She almost immediately got some life back in her, but still frowned. "No. I keep having this stupid dream of some blonde bimbo ranting about how she's going to kill me."

"That's… odd." He replied. "Anyway… wait a second, where did Nero run off to?"

As if on cue, the blonde woman walked into the room, though she was followed by the equally blonde Kuu-chan. "Now remember little one," she said in the tone of a teacher. "if you continue to practice your manners and poise now, you shall turn from a beautiful young girl into a beautiful young woman in no time."

"Yes, Nero-nee!" The young girl proceeded to strike a pose as if to drive the point home, though it only served to make her more childish looking.

"No, no, no." Nero corrected before settling into a pose of her own. "You must go like this!"

"Umm!" Kuu-chan hummed as she proceeded to emulate her idol.

"Nero, what have I told you about corrupting the young?" Shirou said flatly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Shirou simply gave a sigh, apparently deciding that arguing with the imperious woman would get him nowhere. Rin then spoke up. "Anyway, any word about getting more help from the church?"

"We actually should have gotten them by now, but for some reason they're not being let into the city." Shirou remarked. "The forces around the perimeter keep turning them away for some reason or another. It's happened enough times that it can't be a coincidence. It probably has something to do with how I'm a participant in the Plan and MBI suspects that I would be getting outside help from them, but it seems a little paranoid for them to be rejecting priests. Sure they're right, by they can't know that they're Executors."

"Hmm," Rin hummed, a smug and somewhat evil grin crossing her face. "Well, it seems that you'll just have to rely on my resources even more."

Shirou gave a helpless groan. Homura was sure it had something to do with when Takami awoke after yesterday's memory altercation and handed out MBI cards.

"_Mom, why is Rin laughing maniacally?" Shirou asked after he came back from the kitchen._

"_Oh, I just handed her the MBI card that normally all Ashikabi get when they join the plan."_

"_And why does that make her so happy?"_

"_The card can be used as a credit card with an unlimited line of credit."_

_Shirou paused for a moment, and his eyes widened before he fell on his knees in front of his mother. "Thank you! Oh, thank you o merciful God! Now Nero won't put me into massive debt anymore by buying way too many clothes or funding random artist she meets on the street! Now I don't have to worry about explaining to my superiors why my yearly budget has disappeared in few months! Now I-"_

_Takami coughed and interrupted her son. "I said 'normally'. You're not getting one because you openly declared hostile intensions against the company."_

_Shirou went silent before a look of despair crossed his face. "Noooooooo!"_

"Yes, I will be willing to lend you financial aid," Rin said with a smirk while Shirou glared at her. "So long as you return it with interest, of course."

"It is fortunate that we have extra-normal means of communication, or we would be cut off entirely." Nero added, completely oblivious to her husband's plight.

"What's an Executor?" Kusuno asked with curiosity.

The adults in the room looked at each other warily. It turned out that for whatever reason the memory erasing thing that Shirou and Rin could do didn't work on Sekirei, so Musubi and Kuu-chan knew at least part of the secret the two had. Fortunately, Musubi was sworn to secrecy by her Ashikabi (how well she would keep it would have to be seen), and whatever the younger girl said could be taken as flights of fancy. Still, that had to give the girl some kind of answer or she would keep asking questions.

Nero decided to provide. "Executors are people who fly all over the over the world and get rid of the scary monsters that hide in little girls' closets."

"Ah! Is there a monster in Kuu-chan's closet?" the little girl asked fearfully.

"We will have to check, it seems. But do not worry little one, for you have something much better than Executors. You have Nero-nee!" With that, she led Kuu-chan back to her room to assure her of her safety.

Shirou gave the departing form of his wife a small smile before turning back to Homura. "You don't have work today, correct? Maybe you should sit in on this strategy session too."

The male Sekirei shifted uncomfortably at the thought of spending a long amount of time in Matsu room. He didn't want to think about the things that the lavaisous witch got up to in there. "... I think I'll pass."

* * *

Homura jumped from rooftop to rooftop, following the standard route of his patrol. Like the past few days, there was little going on, thought that didn't stop him from enjoying it. On the contrary, he enjoyed having some time to himself to be alone with his thoughts. The Inn had become somewhat rambunctious with all the new renters. It also gave him some sense of familiarity, as the past two weeks had resulted in him getting winged, magic being added to his world view, Miya returning to the world to fight for the sake of her species, and MBI mobilizing in response. _Everything is changing so fast, he thought to himself._

He then spied a familiar figure standing on a rooftop nearby. _Well, at least ther__e's one thing I can always count__ on._

He altered his path and soon he landed behind Tsukiumi, the No.09. The woman was staring out at the cityscape seriously, like she was waiting for a challenge that could present itself at any second. Without turning, she said sternly "So, have to come to finally settle our rivalry, Homura?"

Homura couldn't help but give a small chuckle at her question. Tsukiumi was a very proud woman, and was disgruntled by the fact that she needed an Ashikabi to reach her full power. As such, she had sworn she would never let one of those 'monkeys' touch her, and that she would win the Plan without one. Given that Homura considered it his self-sworn duty to help the unwinged until they found their Ashikabi, this had put him somewhat at odds with the woman.

He replied "You know I would prefer to convince you to see thing my way rather than fight you, Tsukiumi."

"Bah! Words are meaningless when compared to action! Though no one has had the will to show themselves before me for the past few days. I am starting to wonder if I am the only one who takes the Sekirei Plan seriously."

The man arched an eyebrow at her back. "What, you haven't heard? The 01 has become active and has commanded no unnecessary violence. Everyone is too afraid to poke their head above ground to fight."

"What?!" Tsukiumi said in alarm as she spun to face him. Homura knew that she often considered herself the strongest Sekirei, but even she was not so arrogant to consider the leader of their race lightly. Though as she didn't know who the 01 was, she would probably still try to prove herself against Miya. "The 01 has-" Tsukiumi started before she cut herself off, blinking in surprise as she looked at Homura. She stayed silent for a moment longer before she spoke again. "Homura, you look... different."

The man shifted uncomfortably. He didn't have any different sizes for his battle outfit, so the one he was wearing was filled out by his new frame. The effect was apparently more visible than he thought. "I've, uh, been working out." He said lamely, not really able to explain what had actually happened.

Tsukiumi hummed as she scrutinized him intensely for a few moments before she said. "Well, I approve. As my rival, you should have a physic fitting of you skill. Now you don't look like you would blow over in a strong wind."

Homura felt his eyebrow twitch. "Ok, it wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was." She replied without hesitation. "Now, what is this about the 01?"

The man gave a sigh before continuing. "The 01 has become active. She's still not participating in the Plan, but she had a few problems with how it was being run. She will not allow any forced wingings and prohibits attacking humans."

"Hmp. Why does she not participate herself? Has she so little confidence in her skill that she will not face battle?"

Homura hesitated. He wasn't sure how Tsukiumi would react if she learned that Miya was helping his Ashikabi stop the Plan entirely, so he decided to try changing the subject. "Who knows? In any case, I suppose you haven't reconsidered your stance on having an Ashikabi?"

Tsukiumi, predictably, became indigent at this. "Of course not! I would never let one of those filthy monkeys touch me! If there are so great, then why don't you have one?"

A week ago Homura would have found that remark a hurtful reminder of his unwinged status, but now he found that he was able to give the casual reply "Actually, I do have an Ashikabi now."

"What?!" She said in surprise, though she calmed quickly. "Tch. I suppose I should not be surprised, considering you. Tell me, is it everything you ever wanted, being bound to one of these lesser creatures?"

Homura paused at this, taking a moment to truly consider the question. True, his Ashikabi was a man, but... he looked down at his body then back at the woman. "It's been... surprisingly good, actually."

This only caused her to frown even more. "Well, I don't care if you've found some strumpet. I don't want an Ashikabi, and I don't need one! I will die before I ever let her take me!"

Homura was about to respond when he realized what she just said. "Wait, what do you mean 'her'?"

Tsukiumi's face flushed as she realized what she said. "I-I didn't say that! I said anyone! Y-your hearing must be bad!"

The man titled his head to the side. "No, I'm pretty sure you said-" he suddenly stopped in realization. "Oh my god, you're reacting aren't you?" Rin had said she was having dreams about a blonde woman threatening to kill her. If those were visions rather than dreams, then the odds were good that it was Tsukiumi sending them out, even if she didn't want to.

"No! Of course not! And even if I was, it wouldn't be with some shrew!" She yelled in denial.

"No, see, this is fine, because I think I know who-"

"I SAID I WASN"T!" Tsukiumi screeched, and just like that streams of water formed in the air around her. Before Homura could react, the water Sekirei blasted her element at him, sending him flying to the other end of the roof and tumbling to the ground.

The man pulled himself up, disturbed by what had just happened. It wasn't even close to the first time the woman had attacked him in anger before, but this was much more... unhinged. She was much more distraught than she should be. Looking up, he caught a glimpse of Tsukiumi looking at him.

On her face, he saw shock, fear, and shame.

The held each other's gaze for a moment longer before she let out a choking sound and jumped of the roof, bounding away from him as fast as she could. "Tsukiumi, wait!" he called out, but it was no use. She was already gone.


	14. Chapter 11

After staring at the screen for a moment, I said "So, the two biggest obstacles we'll have to overcome are the Disciplinary Squad and MBI's private military company, correct?"

"Well, from a strictly brute force physical perspective, yes." Matsu replied. "Without either of those things, MBI won't have any real way to enforce the plan. Of course, unless you have some kind of magical power that lets you defeat an entire army and three of the most dangerous Sekirei there are, I would advise against the direct approach. "

I gave the hacker a small frown. "Even if I did have such a method, I doubt that I could use it without letting the entire world see it, so no."

Matsu let out a small hum and scuttled over to another keyboard and monitor. He room was an odd set up, hidden behind a false wall at the end of the hallway. All there was in the room was a large futon in the center which was surrounded by a number of computers and monitors. There were no chairs to speak of, so the lot of us were sitting on the futon. As the Sekirei typed, she said "I thought as much. In any case, the Disciplinary squad will likely be the more problematic of the two. The PMC is simply following orders, and I can think of a few ways of taking them out of the equation. The Black Sekirei on the other hand…" she paused and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, she's doing it because she wants to."

I hummed in thought before asking "What about the other Ashikabi in the game? Some of them would probably prefer it if things continued. Are any of them a threat?"

"Hardly." Rin remarked from her siting position next to me. "The bunch I ran into at the gardens were little more than the average adolescent male. The few that Musubi and I fought started to panic when I tried assaulting them personally and just ran away. I don't think that they really understand what they're doing."

"Nevertheless, there are certainly those we do need to keep an eye on." Nero added from her position behind Rin. "For instance, that one in particular could be trouble." She said, pointing at one of the listed Ashikabi on Matsu's monitors.

It was also worth noting that she did so by leaning forward against Rin, the magus' head ending up pressed against the other woman's chest. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that my Servant had been using our time in the somewhat small space to lounge or simply lay on top of one of the other 3 occupants, but I had more important things to focus on at the moment.

"T-that's Higa Izumi," Rin read off the screen as she shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "It says here that he's the heir to Higa international, a rival pharmaceutical company to MBI. He also has the second highest number of Sekirei winged at 12."

"And the one with the highest, Hayato Mikogami, is the son of some extremely wealthy international businessmen." Matsu completed. "All information shows that neither particularly cares for their Sekirei or how they get them. While they're not the biggest threat, they are certainly something we'll have to consider, even if we succeed in stopping the Plan."

I contemplated the situation before giving a small sigh. "I suppose I should ask the question, can this whole problem be solved simply by killing Minaka?"

Matsu gave a start of surprise at my sudden question. "That's a rather grim option to think of so soon, Shirou-tan."

"I've done more than just think about it." I replied. "If I were younger, I would have gone off and done so the night he contacted me."

"Leaving a massive trail of collateral, no doubt." Rin said dryly.

I nodded. "Both in material and in lives. Of course, given some time I could probably come up with something more subtle and contained, even if it's not really what I normally do. Still, I have to know what consequences there will be if I resort to the primary function of my job."

Matsu proceeded to give me a measured look, weighing what I had just said. Over the past week I had ended up learning a thing or two about the 02, like the fact that she used to be on the original Disciplinary Squad with the 01, and had helped fend off an invasion of the island their ship was on from foreign powers. For all of her childish mannerisms, she still knew what it was like to be a soldier, and to have to do unpleasant thing to achieve a goal. Eventually, she gave a small shake off her head and said "I can't say with one hundred percent certainty, but I would guess not. I have been downloading as much data as I can from the MBI servers ever since I learned your intent to stop the plan, and I have found a number of documents making references to 'contingency plans' for certain scenarios. Unfortunately, due to my limited access I was not able to determine what the plans or the scenarios for them were."

"That is rather vague," Nero remarked. "Such contingencies could be referring to much more mundane thing about the Plan itself. Have you found anything more concrete?"

Matsu's mouth twisted into an unpleasant frown. "Unfortunately, yes. I've also found evidence that our adjusters did more than alter our biology. Each Sekirei has also been given implants."

"Implants?" I asked with some concern. "What kind of implants?"

"I'm not entirely sure, though I know that at the very least that one such implant is a GPS tracker." The hacker said before turning her back to me, sweeping her braid to the side and tapping a point the back of her neck meaningfully. "I had to wait a few days for some equipment to arrive to check, but there's definitely something here giving off a signal. And I had thought I was safe." She said with a small huff. "In any case, it's likely that this is how MBI keeps tabs on all of the Sekirei and their conditions, and there is no telling what else we have inside of us without access to a high grade medical scanner."

Rin, who was looking a little lost at all the talk of technology, said "So, what does that all have to do with whether or not we should just kill Minaka?"

"It means that it's possible he might have some sort of dead-man switch on him that would terminate all the Sekirei if he ever dies out of spite." I said grimly. This wasn't the first time I had seen this sort of thing during my work. Granted, it was all usually a bit more magical in nature, but it was essentially the same. "My mother had said something to the effect that taking out any piece of the plan would only make it worse. I suppose it's only natural that she included Minaka in that statement." I then blinked as I remembered something. "By the way Matsu, have you managed to find anything about the Mr. Black which my mother mentioned?" Takami had not been the great source of information I had hoped she would be since the altercation a week ago with Karasuba. I knew a lot of it came from that she was probably being monitored whenever she was with me and couldn't let confidential information slip, but I was sure that she could be giving me more than she was if she really wanted to. Still, she had managed to drop some helpful hints as to where I could have Matsu look for information.

But not on this particular subject. Matsu gave a childish pout and said. "No. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Takami-tan was making him up. Usually I can get at least some little fragment of information when looking for something, but this time I found nothing. I know as much as you do, which is to say that he is a mysterious person that even gives the Black Sekirei pause."

"Hmp." Rin grunted. "So all we know right now is that we don't know enough about Plan or how many pieces it has, and that if we make an incorrect move (which is rather likely with our current lack of information) it could have disastrous consequences of an unknown nature." She gave the hacker a dry look. "So far, I'm finding your self-proclaimed skills in information gathering to be somewhat lacking."

Matsu became indignant. "Hey! I would like to see anyone else get even the small pieces of info I managed to acquire! MBI has some of the most advanced network security in the world! The only way I'd be able to do better is if I had a Norito!"

"A what?" I asked.

The hacker blinked and said "Oh! I guess no one has explained it to you. A Norito is how we Sekirei use our full power, and we need our Ashikabi to do so."

"Then why haven't you asked for my help?"

"Well," she said while looking a little awkward. "In order to preform one, we would need to… kiss. And I wasn't sure if…" she trailed off.

I looked at her for a moment before saying. "Oh. Well, if you really need it to get all the information you can, than I have no problem with."

"Really?" Matsu said in surprise. "Thank you, Shirou-tan!"

I was a little taken aback by how happy my agreeing to kiss her seemed to make her, but I didn't know what to say about. My relationship with the woman was… strained at times. Matsu had made it clear at every possible opportunity what she wanted to do with me (sometimes with video), and she was unhappy whenever I turned her down. I know she had said that she intended to win me over eventually, but I was getting the distinct impression that the alien was rather impatient and didn't have any idea how to court someone other than in a physical manner.

The idea of simply relenting to Matsu's wants had crossed my mind. I wasn't exactly adverse to the idea of casual sex (it wouldn't be the first time Nero and I threw someone else into the mix for the hell of it), but the problem was it couldn't be casual. Matsu had feelings for me, and that would make things… different. I had a hard time articulating my discomfort, but if I had to put words to it, I would say that the thought of having sex with someone who had feelings for me which I didn't return just felt wrong. Like I was taking advantage of them somehow. That same discomfort returned when Matsu because so enthused about the idea of us kissing, albeit to a lesser degree.

Ironically, my wife was less than helpful in this matter, as she was constantly encouraging the other woman. Nero had a… unique view on love. It had changed a bit since I had come to love her and she learned what it was liked to be loved in turn, but she felt that love was selfish, and one was entitled in return for their affections. It was a rather simple view all things told, and as such she believed in an unlimited capacity for love inherent in everyone. They idea that things might not work due to logistical reasons (such as me already being married to her) didn't seem to occur to the emperor.

And in spite of what my wife might suggest, Rin does not factor into this at all. Nope. Not at all.

"So, are you going to give me my Norito now, Shirou-tan?" Matsu asked eagerly.

I snapped out of my musing to say "Uh, not right now. It's almost lunch time, so why do we take a break and get back to this later?"

* * *

Our timing was better than I thought, as when we came down the stairs we found Miya setting utensils on the table. Yukari was there as well. "Good morning Onii-chan! How did your 'strategy session' go?" I could almost hear the quotation marks, and the small leer on my sister's face showed just what she thought we were doing in Matsu's room.

"Oh?" Miya said. "Sahashi-kun, you weren't up to anything indecent I hope?"

It was Rin who responded. "J-just what are you implying?! I don't know what you're thinking, but it certainly wasn't that!"

"But Rin-sempai! With all the women popping up in Onii-chan's life, you need to act soon or you'll lose your advantage as the old childhood friend!" Yukari insisted. "You see, in all the manga I've read-"

She was then interrupted by the timely application of a ladle to her head, courtesy of the landlady. "Ara, what have I told you about bringing lewd literature into my home?"

My sister began waving her arms frantically before Miya could begin her signature technique. "I didn't bring them here! I left them at my mom's place! I swear!" It looked like this wasn't the first time she had been chastised for her choice of reading material.

I was about to suggest that I go get the plates when Musubi, Uzume and Kuu-chan walked into the room doing just that. However, for whatever reason, Musubi was dressed in a rather skimpy maid outfit, with a short skirt, open back, and a low neck line. Kuu on the other hand was wearing what looked to be a penguin outfit, only her face visible through the bird's mouth.

"Tada!" Uzume proclaimed as she laid down the plates in her hands and addressed Rin and Yukari. "How do you like it? These are from my personal collection." She said proudly.

Rin said nothing, but her head titled to the side as she stared at Musubi's outfit and a light blush formed on her face. My sister gave a small squeal as she looked at her Sekirei. "You look adorable, Kuu-chan!" However, the most pronounced reaction came from Nero of all people.

Nero prided herself on always acting with proper decorum (for her standards anyway) and for always being formal. However, this was not always the case, as was evident when my wife set eyes on Kuu. Nero eyes shined brightly, and a joyful smile crossed her face as she exclaimed "Penguin!" She then proceeded to launched herself at the young girl in what I believe my sister would refer to as an 'attack glomp' and began cuddling her.

There are few things that can make my wife enter her 'super kawai mode', but penguins are one of them.

"Hey! She's my imouto!" My sister said, and moved in to latch on to the young girl as well, causing Kusuno to fidget uncomfortably between the two.

The rest of the room stared at this scene nonplussed. Eventually Uzume said "Huh. Really thought she would have liked the other outfit more."

I quirked an eyebrow at the one responsible for this. "And just why did you feel the need to have those two play dress-up?"

Uzume gave a playful smirk. "Cause they look awesome! Usually I'm the only one who wears the outfits I make, but I thought I'd give some of the other Ashikabi's around here a treat too." Her grin became impish. "I would have roped Homura in too, but he's gotten a little too beefcake lately for my outfits."

"Well darn," I said in a flat and sarcastic tone. "I guess you have to find someone else. Nero would probably oblige."

"Aw, and here I was half thinking you were going to ask me." She said with a mischievous smile and a hand on her hip. "Maybe your roguish charms ain't as good as ya think."

I gave her an even look while suppressing a smirk of my own. "You speak of hearsay, woman. I need only time before my plan to add you to my harem comes to fruition in all of its draconian complexity."

I was about to continue when I heard Matsu next to me speak up in an annoyed tone. "Shirou-tan! How come you flirt back with her but not with me?"

I looked at the bespectacled woman in surprise and was about to say I wasn't flirting when I paused. Thinking about it, I guessed it could look like that, but we were just kidding around. Odd that I was apparently more comfortable doing so with the person who had no interest in me than the one who did.

"Damn it," I muttered with a frown. This was getting complicated.

I was saved from contemplating my various relationships with women by the timely entrance of Homura through the front door. "Shirou! Rin! I need to talk to you!" He ran into the dining room and noticed the lot of us. He briefly looked at the nonsense going with my sister, my wife and Kuu-chan, but apparently dismissed it with a shake of his head and turned to Rin. "Rin, these dreams you've been having about a blonde woman, is her hair down below her waist? And does she wear a sort of black overcoat and a short white tunic underneath?"

Rin was taken aback by this. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"Because those aren't dreams you're having, they're visions."

"Visions?" I asked before my eyes widened in realization, "Wait, do you mean-"

"That a Sekirei is reacting to Rin? Yes."

Rin's face twisted in confusion. "Well if that's the case, why the hell does she keep saying she's going to kill me?"

Homura shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I actually happen to know her, and Tsukiumi is… different than most Sekirei. She's very proud and resents that fact she needs an Ashikabi to get her full strength. Also, well… She is not taking the fact the she's reacting to a female very well."

I arched an eyebrow at this. I had thought Homura to be unique in his own reaction to me, but now it seemed almost like same-sex reactions were surprisingly common. Hell, the only one I knew of that had an opposite-sex partner for sure was Matsu. For all I knew, even Uzume could have a woman as an Ashikabi. It could have just been coincidence that I was meeting all the ones who had this quirk, but it still seemed incredibly off.

Rin simply grunted at this. "If she's so set on not having me wing her that's fine by me. I just want those bloody dreams to stop."

It was then Musubi decided to speak her piece. "Rin-san! Don't say things like that! Of course you're going to wing her!"

The magus arched an eyebrow at her Sekirei. "She has repeatedly said that she will try to kill me if she ever sees me. I don't think this is something either of us particularly wants."

This surprised me a little. I would have that the Rin would have wanted multiple Sekirei so that she could have a better test base, but it seemed she was taking the whole bonded-for-life thing seriously. More proof that she was better than those jerks at the Clock Tower I suppose.

"Rin, I actually have to agree with her on this," Homura said. "I know it's unpleasant, but I don't think the dreams will go away if you ignore them. I'm not sure what will happen to a reacting Sekirei if you leave them alone for a prolonged period of time, but…" He trailed off, undoubtedly thinking of what happened to him when he was reacting to me. He looked back at Rin, his expression worried. "Rin, please. Tsukiumi is feeling scared and ashamed because of what's happening to her, and it won't get any better if both of you try to ignore this. She was… probably the closest thing I had to a friend before I met you lot, oddly enough. I'm asking you, please help her."

Rin's mouth twisted into a frown. Eventually, she said "Well, I'll think about it. In the meantime, let's have lunch."

"Yay!" Musubi said, apparently taking Rin's statement as approval. "I made you some curry Rin-san! It's my specialty!"

My face twisted into a grimace. "No offence Musubi, but I think I'll just stick to the salad. I hate spicy foods."

Homura gave me a sideways glance. "Really? I would have thought that with, you know…" he trailed off, though his implication was clear.

I leaned closer to him and whispered in a low voice. "Immunity to fire is not the same thing as immunity to capsaicin." In part, it was this hatred of spicy foods that drove me to learn how to cook in the first place. Given my adopted father's love of overly spiced curry, I probably would have starved to death if hadn't. Or would have become indebted to Rin by having her cook for me, but that might have been worse.

Turning my attention back to the group, I noticed that one thing hadn't changed in spite of Homura's entrance. "Nero, let go of Kuu-chan already."

"But Shirou!" She said as she clutched the still squirming girl. "She's so dapper!"

I suppressed a sigh. This was going to take a while.

* * *

Takami shifted through the papers on her desk, trudging through the bureaucracy and paperwork that were required of her high position. She did so automatically, giving it only part of her attention while her mind wandered to more important things. Like how to keep her children alive.

It was bad enough that Yukari was a part of the Plan now, but Minato actively trying to undermine it put things on a whole new level of dangerous. It wasn't that she disagreed with him on why the Plan should be stopped (if fact, she agreed wholeheartedly), it was just, well, he would be putting himself in the line of fire to do so. In a way, she was proud that her son would willingly put himself at risk for the sake of other, but at the same time she didn't want to lose him. Was that so selfish of her? To want to keep her child safe, even if it meant he wouldn't be able to help others?

Her dilemma was not helped by the fact the Minato was asking for her help in taking apart the Plan. Aside from her own trepidations, this was made problematic by the fact that all of her interactions with her son were being monitored to prevent her from doing just that. Her son's declaration of war had insured it. So far she had been able to slip him little details to keep him informed, but nothing more.

As she pulled out another piece of paper from the pile, she then found another reason why she couldn't help her son. _Mr. Black requests more resources for his personal project in basement lab 00_, it read at the top. Takami suppressed a small shudder at the thought of that man. It had been fairly early in the founding of MBI that she and Minaka had been approached by the man for a partnership of sorts, and Takami had instantly distrusted him. However, that fool of hers became enamored with Mr. Black for some reason or another and brought him on board without her consent. He didn't seem to be very useful at first, but as time went by he became more and more helpful when it came to research and adjustment, especially after they had lost Takehito.

The problem stemmed from the fact that when she told Minato that she knew everything about the plan, she wasn't being entirely accurate. As the Head Geneticist, she knew all the official details of the Sekirei Plan, including the contingencies and backups which would certainly help Minato if he knew about them. However, Mr. Black had become something of an unspoken force in company. There were no records of what he did during the adjustment process or any of his assets on file, as instead all such information was keep by himself. He kept his own assistants (who remained completely covered in robes like some kind of cult), and barely ever let himself be seen. Takami had been able to figure out some of what he had done, but she knew there was much more that he (and Minaka) was keeping from her.

And to put it frankly, no matter what happened, she would _never_ let her children near that man. Most of MBI could be considered misguided or thoughtless with their regard towards the Sekirei. Mr. Black? She didn't even want to think about what he was doing to the poor creature MBI had deemed useless, locked away in that basement lab.

Takami shook her head in frustration and put the paper down. After a moment she decided to shift gears for a while and she turned to her computer, pulling up the information on her son's one request which she didn't feel bad about working on. It had been fairly easy to get Sakura Matou's medical information, as well as the data pertaining to the night of her disappearance. To be honest, there wasn't much; there were no signs of forced entry into her room, and hospital security said that there were no disturbances at all that night. It seemed that either someone snuck into her room and took her during the night without anyone noticing (and with no clear motive for Takami to see), or the girl had woken up from a five year coma and snuck out of the hospital on her own (again, for reasons Takami couldn't fathom). She honestly didn't know which was more likely.

Still, it was the girl's actually condition which intrigued the scientist. The reports were very vague on what had actually happen to her, but apparently, in addition to falling into a coma, Sakura had somehow contracted a case of near-albinism and gained a large number of light scaring on her body. Takami made a mental note to ask her son for specifics on the matter the next time she saw him, because it seemed to the geneticist that there was something extra-normal going on with this girl.

Takami suddenly frowned as she reread the girl's physical description. There was a small nagging at the back of her mind, like a memory that was on the tip of her tongue. "White hair, red eyes, scaring," she muttered to herself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

* * *

Akitsu followed behind her master as they walked down the street, her eyes as always fixed on the woman who had shown her kindness. The white haired woman had promised that she would find someone to help the ice Sekirei, but at the moment Akitsu considered Sakura that person. She had agreed to be Akitsu's master even though she was broken, and agreed to take care of her. Akitsu didn't even think that her condition could be fixed, so for now, this was enough.

It was about midday when Sakura slowed and came to a stop. Without turning around, she said "You're probably wondering why we wander around all day."

Akitsu blinked. "Ah," she said. It was true that since she had met her master, most of their time had been spent wandering aimless around the city, seemingly talking to random people. They never even stayed in the same hotel each night, instead switching to a new one. Akitsu did not know why, but such things were irrelevant. "Maser is doing what she chooses. Master will explain it to me if she feels it necessary."

Sakura turned to look at her, faint surprise apparent on her face before it turned to a warm smile. "Your very understanding, Akitsu. All you need to do is ask and I will tell you." There was a brief silence between the two, and Sakura took this as a sign of consent to continue. "You know that I'm… different from most other humans, that I have certain abilities. Ever since I woke up, I've felt a sort of connection with the one that saved me. I can't explain it, but I somehow know where he is."

She then gave sigh of frustration. "But only roughly. I know he's in this city but don't know where! All it seems I can do is search randomly!"

Akitsu was silent for a moment before she said. "So long as you search, I will help you. How long it takes is irrelevant."

Again, Sakura gave her Sekirei a look of surprise before she smiled. This time she leaned forward and hugged Akitsu, causing the other woman to stiffen at the contact. "I'm glad I met you." She said. "I'm not sure what I'd do right now it I didn't have you to rely on."

"A-ah" Akitsu replied, a blush forming on her face at the contact. "Thank you." She said in a small voice.

Sakura pulled back and gave a small sigh. "Well, maybe we should take a break for now." She looked down at herself. "You know, I could probably use some more cloths if we're going to be in this city for much longer. Why don't we do some shopping?"

With that she asked a random passerby, who happened to be a high school girl with glasses and medium length black hair, where they could shop for some cloths, and the girl helpfully directed them to a unique boutique in the Shin Tokyo's shopping district.


	15. Chapter 12

Eventually, at Homura's behest, Rin agreed to at least met Tsukiumi and see if that helped anything. Both Rin and I had our doubts, but we were willing to at least give it a shot. That didn't mean she was going to be careless about it though. Considering the repeated death threats, Homura, Nero and I were tagging along as well as Musubi with her to insure her safety. Such as it was, it was the following day when we had set out to find the elusive 09.

"She's usually around here somewhere," Homura said as he craned his neck to look at the top of the buildings. He had brought us to the financial district, so the roofs were a fair distance up. "She likes to have a high vantage point."

"This is taking longer than I thought it would." Rin remarked.

"Well, normally she's a lot more visible." The man replied. He then paused and gave a small grimace. "Considering how our last meeting went, it's possible that she's trying to avoid me."

I gave a sigh at this. "Look, this will probably go a lot faster if we split up-"

"Oh no you don't!" Homura exclaimed. "I'm not letting you wander into a potentially dangerous situation again all on your own!"

I arched an eyebrow. "Homura, I'll be fine. I certainly managed to handle those two Sekirei in the gardens well enough-"

"What?!" the man exclaimed and I gave a wince. I forgot that I hadn't yet told him about the two I had terminated while I was searching for Kuu-chan. "You actually fought Sekirei? And two of them?"

"Shirou-san really is strong, just like Rin-san said!" Musubi said happily for whatever reason, bouncing up and down as she did so. "Shirou-san! Let's fight some time!"

I looked at the girl in confusion for a moment before I decided to ignore her and look back at my own Sekirei. "Look, I keep telling you that I'm not exactly a gentle flower. I hunt vampires for a living, and quite frankly I find the Sekirei somewhat lacking by comparison." Homura's mouth twisted at the comment, but I had gotten annoyed at how he kept trying to baby me, so I just pushed on. "This will go fast if we split up. If you're really concerned, you can go with me and the three women can be the other group."

While the man mulled this over, Rin said to me "Why wouldn't Nero go with you?"

"Mostly so I can prove to my overly concerned Sekirei that I can handle myself." I replied while pointing at the man in question. "Besides, Nero will be of help if you do happen to run into Tsukiumi before we do and she isn't in a friendly mood."

Rin narrowed her eyes at me. "And just what is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I can't handle myself in a fight?"

"Uh…" I said as I realized the pitfall I had stumbled into. "What I meant was that you primarily focus on research-"

"And that means I should just stay out of the way?" She continued angrily, her Tsun-Tsun drive already engaged. "I will have you know that while I may have been spending most of the past five years in academic pursuits, I still devoted some of my time to combat training. I needed some way to unwind from writing reports, and I certainly didn't know anyone in England I could do something pleasant with." I felt a small pang of guilt at this statement, but she continued on. "Even then, do you not remember what we both went through five years ago?"

My face hardened a little. "Of course I remember. I remember us both almost being killed on a number of occasions."

"You just as many times as me." She replied evenly. "So I won't stand for any nonsense about you thinking I need more protection."

"It's not that-"

"Then just what is it?"

Frustrated, I yelled back at her "I can't see you hurt, damn it!"

Rin blinked in surprise and calmed down. There was a moment's pause before she looked off to the side. "Well, I suppose if you're that concerned…" she trailed off, a light blush crossed her face.

I shifted uncomfortably at the looks that everyone else was giving us, particularly the coy smile that my wife was giving me. Nope. Still not thinking about it. Not at all. "So, let's get a move on shall we?" I said, trying to focus everyone's attention on the task at hand rather than letting them ask just what the deal was between me and Rin.

* * *

"So, what's the deal between you and Rin?"

Considering all of the nonsense Homura had put up with his Ashikabi since he met him, he felt something of a guilty pleasure with how the question caused Shirou to trip suddenly. It had been about five minutes since the two of them split up from the females, and that sentence had been the first he had said to Shirou since then.

As the other man regained his balance, he said "W-what do you mean what's the deal with us? I said that we're childhood friends."

"Yes, but you have a rather strange back and forth between the two of you." Over the past two weeks Homura had noticed that the relationship between the two seemed to be one fluctuating between argument and something closer to friendship. Often these arguments were one sided, with the other party not noticing or dismissing the other thus causing things to escalate to mild physical violence(usually Rin attacking Shirou). However, even if things boiled over they always settled back down afterward with no hard feelings on either side. The male Sekirei thought it was a wonder they could keep such a mercurial relationship, and doubted that he would be able to stand a woman like that on a regular basis.

Shirou gave a shrug and looked back in front of him. "Well, were not exactly normal people. That was even less the case back when we first met."

"What do you mean?"

"It was a few months after the fire that we were introduced to each other, and needless to say the event had left its mark on me mentally. It still does, though fortunately to a lesser extent than it used to."

Homura looked at him incredulously. "Wait, you were even _less_ normal than you are now?"

"Indeed. I'm sure that psychologists would have had a field day trying to figure out just what was wrong with me, but let's put that aside. What also had happened was that Rin's father was killed shortly before the fire, and her mother fell into a coma around the same time."

"Wow. That is terrible timing."

"Not really. My father was responsible for it in both cases." Shirou said darkly. "It's a long story which I don't feel like getting into right now, but suffice to say the world is a better place without Kirei Kotomine in it. In any case, Rin was going through a hard time and in response had become rather cold and aloof towards other people."

"So, how did you become friends with her at all?"

Shirou grinned. "By having a complete lack of social norms. I think I just confused her enough that she forgot to act cold to me as well. And she managed to find a place to help my broken self along as well. If I hadn't met her-" Shirou cut himself off, a look disgust crossing his face. "Well, let's just say that I would have made my father proud." He said with no small amount of bitterness in his voice.

The two fell silent after that for a while. Not really sure what to say after that. Finally, Homura spoke up. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Shirou said, apparently snapping out of his own thoughts. "For what?"

"For the fire. I'm sorry about what it did to you." His Ashikabi continued to look at him curiously, so Homura continued. "I mean, I know that it's stupid for me to feel bad about it but… I've always felt responsible for my element and the destruction it causes." The man looked down at his hand, frowning as he made a small spark of flame dance on his fingertips. "Those who wield fire are cursed by the gods after all."

Shirou merely arched an eyebrow at this, and I took the Sekirei a moment to remember just what his magic wielding Ashikabi's preferred element was. "Uh… of course, that's not to say…" Homura said as he tried to stumble trough an apology.

Much to his surprise, Shriou started laughing at this, like he found it the funniest thing in the world. Homura just looked at him perplexed until the laughter died down and the man said between chuckles "Homura, there's something important about me you should know. I don't just use fire because I prefer it. I use it because it's pretty much the only thing I can use."

"Wait, I though you could also enhance your strength and do memory wipes as well."

"I can that because I've put a lot of practice into it, but compared to other magi, especially Rin, my range of different spells is incredibly low. There's a complicated magical reason for it, but the simpler and true reason is that the fire which I survived all those years ago ingrained itself into my soul. It didn't just change what magic I might have had, it made me into the person I am. That fire is just as much a part of me as any other part of my personality. So, don't feel the need to apologize. If not for those flames, I wouldn't be the person I am today."

Homura became silent at that, somewhat in awe of how the man before him had such a positive view on the thing which had scarred him. He wondered if he could ever feel that way about his own power.

Any other introspecting he might have had was cut off when Shirou's head snapped upwards and to the side. "I think I found her. I'm getting a briny scent, like the ocean."

The Sekirei was confused for a moment before he remembered that Shirou's magical sense manifested as a sort of sense of smell. _I'm never going to get used to this_, he thought to himself and out loud said "Yeah, that's probably her."

"Then we need to get up on that roof." He said, pointing at a nearby building. "She's on the move and that will put us right in her path."

In short order the two had ducked into an alleyway and with the Sekirei's help climbed up the side of the building. They moved behind the small rectangular structure that made the entrance to the roof and waited about a dozen seconds. Then, when they heard the noise of something landing nearby, Homura stepped out and said "Tsukiumi, wait."

The woman spun in surprise. "Homura! How did you- I don't want to talk to you right now!"

"Tsukiumi, please listen. I can help you."

"Are you suggesting that I debase myself some shrew- I mean monkey? I would never do something so vulgar!"

Homura grimaced beneath his mask. It looked like she still wasn't taking her reaction very well. "Look, this is only going to get worse the more you ignore it. Believe me, I understand what you're going through. Now, I happen to know the person you're reacting to, and I think you should just meet her so you can talk."

Tsukiumi flinched when Homura said 'her', and sputtered for a moment before she hung her head. "What good could that possibly do?" She said with a hint of bitterness. "Even if I did want to be with one of those lesser things, I'm not… I just…" she flushed as she tried to find the words. "I'm not like that! Every part of me aside from the wretched reaction is repulsed by the idea, but I can't stop my damn body! So how, Homura?! How could you possibly understand what I am going through?!"

Homura was silent for a moment, and that moment was all Shirou needed to step out and say "Because I am his Ashikabi."

Homura glared at the man in annoyance. He had told Shirou that he wanted to try talking to Tsukiumi alone in order to make her more comfortable. It once again seemed that his Ashikabi was a man who was hard to keep from doing as he pleased. Still, this could be a good opportunity to show the woman that he did indeed know what he was taking about.

Tsukiumi took a step back at Shirou's appearance. "W-what? Who are you? And what do you mean by that?"

"I am Shirou Kotomine Sahashi, and I meant just what I said. I am Homura's Ashikabi."

Tsukiumi gaped at the man, then at Homura. She looked back and forth between the two with clear disbelief on her face. "So… that means… you two…"

Homura gave an annoyed sigh. He already had to put up with Uzume's teasing about being winged to a man, and he did not want Tsukiumi to have the wrong idea entirely. And so he said

"We're/He's not like that!"

Homura blinked in surprise when he realized that Shirou had spoken as well. And that he hadn't said quite the same thing as he did.

Wait, what?

Tsukiumi also found this surprising, turning her attention on Shirou. "Wait, you mean he's not like that? Then why…"

Shirou shrugged. "Yeah, he was pretty upset about getting winged by a man at first too, but we've been working things out. Hell, he probably would have fought it as much as you are, but he wasn't exactly in a position to choose at the time."

The roof became quiet. Tsukiumi simply looked at the man, saying nothing. Homura was somewhat confused by this, thinking that she must have more questions about his situation.

Then he played back what Shirou just said in his head, as realized what it sounded like without the proper context.

And that was the moment Tsukiumi's face twisted in complete and utter rage. "HOW DARE YOU!?"

There was no time for Homura to tell her to stop so he could explain. In the space of a second the woman had gathered a massive torrent of water and hurled it at Shirou. To the vampire hunter's credit, he was much faster that Homura thought he would be, throwing himself to the side to avoid the brunt of the blast. Unfortunately, both he and Homura were caught on opposite edges of it, throwing the two males away from each other.

_Shit!_ The fire Sekirei thought as he was pushed to the edge of the roof. If Tsukiumi thought that he was forcibly winged, especially in her current state, then it will become very hard to get her to calm down enough to convince her otherwise. Hell, she might even try to actually kill Shirou, not thinking about how that would terminate him in the process.

Shirou got to his own feet quickly, only to find that the water Sekirei was already on him, swinging a blade made of her element down at him. "How dare you do that to him?!" she screamed. Shirou ducked to the side with above human speed, but Tsukiumi didn't seem to notice that or the fact that he was trying to explain that it wasn't what she thought. She was far too interested in trying to maim the man.

Homura dashed to their end of the roof, but the assault had already pushed the pair to another rooftop. Shirou landed in a defensive roll, still clearly trying to calm the situation down. Tsukiumi quickly followed, unleashing a series of powerful blasts at the man as she ranted. "After all he's done for the others! After all he's done for you monkeys! He deserves the best among you!"

Shirou ducked behind one of the large air conditioners that were on top of that particular building, trying to get out of the line of fire. Tsukimui began to pull more and more water to herself, condensing it down into a single orb in the palm of her hand. She shouted in rage "He deserves better than fucking garbage like you!" She swept her hand out "Water Reprisal!"

Hourua knew of the concept behind water saws. If you could focus enough water into a thin beam going fast enough, it could cut through industrial grade steel, though the water also had to contain some abrasive materials to make it viable.

It seemed that no one had told Tsukiumi that. The jet of water she unleashed was no thicker than the width of two fingers, but it still sliced clean through every AC unit on that rooftop. And through the air ducts on the next. And through the legs of a water tower on the one after that.

Homura stood still for a moment in complete shock both at the devastation that last attack had wrought and at Tsukiumi's behavior. He had never heard her swear before, or even so much as speak in an informal tone. And what she had said about him? Did she really hold him in that high a regard? Even those she considered him her rival in both action and power? Homura felt almost touched if it wasn't for the fact that she was trying to kill his Ashikabi.

The man gave a start as he remembered Shirou, hoping he wasn't injured by that last attack. After a moment he saw Shirou pull himself up from behind his now ruined cover, apparently having thrown himself to the ground just before it hit. He stepped out and looked around, marveling at the damage around him. He turned to Tsukimui, who was now breathing a little hard from exertion, but still glaring at the man with hate.

Then, Shriou grinned.

Homura shivered. It was the same grin that man had given Karasuba when she had stopped by the Izumo house. In his time knowing the man, he could tell that this was the face he made when he was excited for combat. Shirou was about to get serious, and that meant the odds of one of them dying just skyrocketed.

Shirou's expression simply caused Tsukimui's to become harder, and she lifted her hand to attack again. Shirou raised his own in kind.

"No!" Homura yelled as he dove between the two. He head a pair of startled cries but apparently they had both committed as a jet of water and flame both collided with him. He suspected that both had managed to reduce the strength of their attack at the last moment, and he was fortunate that his own resistance to fire protected him from Shirou's attack. In the end he was just knocked around a bit before his position erupted in a cloud of steam.

After it cleared and he got back on his feet, he gave the woman who was causing so much trouble a glare. "You do realize that if you kill him, I'll die too right?"

"Such a fate would be better than being forced to serve that trash that forced himself upon you."

"Oh for the love of…" Homura muttered angrily, having enough off the woman's misplaced anger. "Listen to me, god damn it! Shirou didn't force himself on me! I reacted to him! I asked him to wing me!"

Tsukiumi's rage dissipated at this, quickly turning into confusion. "W-what? But I thought you weren't… but he said…"

The fire Sekirei gave a sigh. "What he meant when he said that I had no choice was that my powers were in the process of destroying me at the time. I've always been a little unstable, and my reaction to him was in the process of killing me. I chose to be winged by him, even though I'm not into guys, so I could live. And so far, it's worked out pretty well."

Tsukiumi's look of confusion persisted for a moment longer before she finally seemed to accept what he was saying. However, a moment later she turned back to his Ashikabi, pointing a finger imperiously at him. "Why did you have put it in such a misleading way?! Clearly this is your fault!"

Homura resisted the urge to face palm, though he did share the woman's sentiment as far as the blame went. Honestly, it was like the man was trying to put himself in horrible danger. He was about to say something, but he was cut off by the sudden appearance of a bright red beam of light cutting into the roof between Tsukimui and the two men. The three looked to the side to see Rin, Musubi and Nero jumping through the air to their position, the mage in the hands of her Sekirei. Her right eye glowed red, making it clear where the laser had come from.

"You!" Tsukimui said.

"Me." Rin replied coldly as she landed on the roof. "Now, I suggest you back off before I have to show you the pecking order around here."

"Does that mean I get to fight now, Rin-san?" Musubi said excitedly as she bounced into a fighter's stance.

"Perhaps," Nero said, holding no weapon yet but adjusting her stance for combat. "I believe this one will present a challenge for you."

The water Sekirei's mouth twisted. "Why you impudent little-"

"No! Stop!" Homura said frantically. He had just calmed the situation down, damn it! "No one needs to fight! Please just talk things out!"

Tsukimui was trembling a little at the sight of Rin, a blush creeping up on her face showing her reaction. "I-I-I have n-nothing to say to her!"

Rin walk towards her, stopping short about 10 feet away. "Look, let's just get some things straight. You are currently reacting to me. However, you have no interest in being winged by me, correct?"

"Of course not!" Tsukimui replied. "I don't need one of you! I don't care what my biology says!"

Rin was silent for a moment. Them she smiled. "Good."

"Eh?" was the confused response of everyone on the roof.

Continuing, Rin said "Honestly, I find the whole 'you have to be with this one person your body happens to be reacting to' a bit much. The phrase 'strangled by the red string' comes to mind in particular. It's actually sort of refreshing to see one of you decide to fight it."

Tsukiumi was completely taken aback by this, the soundless opening and closing of her mouth making it clear she had no idea how to respond. Musubi on the other hand knew exactly how to respond to that. "Stop that Rin-san! She's supposed to be with you! Don't act like you're not going to wing her!"

Rin gave her Sekirei an exasperated look. "But she doesn't want to be winged. If she doesn't want it, I'm not going to do it."

"B-but Rin-san…" the other woman whimpered, unable find the words to convince her otherwise.

"Wha… what… what do…?" Tsukiumi muttered near incoherently.

Rin turned back to her. "Now, I understand that your reaction can be physically problematic and it might get worse with time. If you want, I could try to help you find a way to-"

"What do you mean you don't want to wing me?! Am not good enough for you?!"

It was Rin's turn to be struck speechless. Almost. "…huh?"

Tsukiumi had quickly gotten over her confusion at this turn of events and had shifted into indignation. "I will have you know that I am the strongest Sekirei! How dare you n-not even be the least bit i-interested!" she blushed a little as she said that, looking off to the side slightly as if in embarrassment.

The dark haired woman gave her an open mouth gape before responding with some indignation of her own. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about?! You just said that you didn't want to be winged!"

"That's not the point! The point is you're insulting me by not having any d-desires for me!"

Rin gave growl of frustration. "Fine, if you want it so bad, then I will wing you!"

Tsukiumi pulled back at this. "W-wait! I don't want to be winged! That's not what I meant!"

"Damn it, make up your bloody mind, you crazy bimbo!"

This comment caused a whole new argument to start between the two women, and Homuura could only watch on in utter confusion. Tsukiumi was acting even weirder than before. If she hated the idea of being winged so much, why did she get angry when Rin said she didn't want her? He heard Shirou walk up next to him. "This seems horribly familiar for some reason…" His Ashikabi muttered as he too looked on at the spectacle before them.

"Grrrr, fine!" Rin said eventually. "I'll admit that you are a very strong and desirable Sekirei! Are you happy now!?"

Tuskiumi sniffed and looked off to the side, the blush on her face growing a little more prominent. "A-a little. Still, i-it's not like I had to hear it from you or anything."

Shirou's muttering stopped upon hearing that, and his eyes widened. Then his face split into an open mouthed smile so wide it looked like someone had just told him that his birthday and Christmas were happening right now. "This is the greatest thing I have even seen…"

Homura looked at his Ashikabi confused. "Um, why?"

"She's a tsundere!" Shirou whispered with a snicker.

The male Sekirei blinked. "What? Who? Rin or Tsukiumi?"

"Yes!"

Homura looked back at the two women. And then it hit him with a sudden burst of mad clarity.

Oh god. It all made sense now. Rin's behavior. Tsukimui's behavior. It could not be unseen. And dear god was it hilarious.

Homura's hand swiftly came up to his mouth as he tried to suppress a snort. This in turn caused Shirou to snicker even more. What followed was an unfortunate chain reaction of each man's laughter casing the other to laugh harder. In a short amount of time, both of them were laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes.

It was at this point that the two women noticed the commotion a short distance away from them and turned the ire they had been building for each other on the men. "And just what the hell is so Root be damned funny?!" Rin asked heatedly.

Homura tried to respond, but he had a hard enough time drawing breath between his laughs as it was. However, Shirou managed to yell out maniacally "FEEL MY PAIN AND KNOW MY SUFFERING! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Rin tilted her head in confusion for a moment before she became perfectly still. Then she looked at Tsukiumi. Then at herself. Then At Tsukiumi again. Then she blushed such a luminescent red it looked like it was on fire. "Wha… but.. I'm not-! We're not-! You-! You… stupid Pyro!" With that, her right eye changed once more to its baleful red and a laser shot out at the Deacon.

Shirou managed to fall to the ground and dodge the beam. He then quickly picked himself up and began running away, though his efforts were hindered by his own guffaws. The magus was quickly in pursuit, firing more lasers and shouting at the man for his insolence.

Unfortunately for Homura, he wasn't spared from the feminine wrath either. Tsukiumi had turned her attention on him, not sure of what was going on, but sure that it was somehow her expense. "Homura! Why are you laughing at me?! I demand that you stop it at once! Water Celebration!" The man was then hit with a large stream of water.

This went on for some time.

* * *

Eventually everything calmed down, and after the women had decided they had dealt out a sufficient amount of punishment, they returned to their previous conversion. It was going a lot more smoothly has they seemed to have gotten all of the aggression out of their system. Musubi stood off the side, enjoying the fact that the two seemed to be getting along now, and Nero had left to go back to the inn for reasons Homura did not know.

This also gave the two men a chance to sit down next to the ruins of an air conditioner and lick their wounds, minor has they were. Still, it was at that moment that Homura remembered something Shirou had said earlier.

"Shirou," he began slowly, somewhat uncomfortable breaching the topic. "Before, when Tsukiumi was making assumptions about us, you said I wasn't like 'that'."

The man turned to look at him. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, I mean the way you put it, it kind of sounds like…"

"…Like?" the man trailed out while arching an eyebrow.

"Well, you know." Homura shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, are you…?"

"…Incredibly hansom?" Shirou completed. "Well, I certainly like to think so, and my wife tells me as much all the time, but it's good to hear your input."

Homura rolled his eyes. "No, I mean are you…?" her trailed off again.

"…A skilled dancer? Most definitely, considering I've had extensive training when it comes to precision movements, though I couldn't classify it as any particular style. I must say, you are asking a lot of strange questions lately, Homura."

The male Sekirei growled in frustration. "No! I mean are you-?"

"Bi? Yes." Shirou replied simply.

Homura blinked in surprise at the short response. There was a moment of silence between the two men before he replied "I didn't know."

"You didn't ask." Shirou replied with a shrug. "Admittedly, it's not something that comes up very often. It sometimes seems like my life has nothing but women in it. It's rather rare that I meet another man that catches my fancy."

"So… do I catch your fancy?" Homura asked somewhat nervously.

"Why, have you suddenly started to have feeling for me?" the Deacon replied with some amusement. "Because if so, I'm going to have to give you the same speech which I gave to Matsu."

"What? No no!" Homura quickly said. He didn't feel for the man in that way. Did he? He thought about the compliments he had made to Shiou about his attractiveness a week ago, and just how he felt for him now. Was there something there? "I mean, what do we do now?"

Shirou frowned. "What do you mean what do we do? This doesn't change anything. Neither of us is interested in the other. As clichéd as the phrase is, I think we should just be friends."

Homura gave a small snort at that. After a moment, he held out his closed fist, a small amount of fire wreathing it. "So, bros?"

Shirou smiled, ignited his own fist and returned the fiery fist bump. "Bros."

* * *

Nero landed in front of the apartment that she and Shirou lived in and swiftly went inside, having made a slight detour on her way back to the inn. When it became clear that there was no battled to be had that day, she decided to leave to do something productive with her time. She supposed she shouldn't complain that there hadn't been any threats worth her notice since the Dead Apostle a few weeks back, but honestly. This must have been the 3rd time in as many weeks where she had been prepared for combat and nothing came of it. She was almost hoping the next time she would actually get the chance to put on a performance.

Still, all was not lost. With her Praetor still with Rin and the new Sekirei, that gave her some time to finish a small project she had been working on and surprise Shirou with it when he returned to the inn. Nero smiled at the thought of the praise she would undoubtedly receive from her husband as she gathered up the last few materials she needed to finish her work. As quickly as she came, she then made her way back to the door to leave.

However, upon opening it, she found her exit was blocked by a person standing in the doorway.

"Hello, thief." Sakura said.


	16. Chapter 13

After a while, the two women had seemed to come to an agreement of sorts, so I made my way over to them. "So, what's the verdict? Do you think you can make it work, or is there too much-"

"If the next words out of your mouth are Tsun-Tsun, I will force feed you curry until you're stuck on a toilet for a week." Rin growled. When my mouth snapped closed with an audible click, she seemed satisfied enough to continue. "Anyway, yes. She has decided that she will allow herself to be winged by me."

Tsukiumi fidgeted a little. "I-I have determined that Rin is a respectable enough person, and it will be helpful not to have to deal with this annoying reaction anymore. And if my rival can endure his own… situation, I see no reason why I should not be able to do the same." She turned to Rin, a light blush on her face. "That of course means no lechery from you! I will accept you as my Ashikabi, but I won't let you do anything in-indecent to me!"

Rin rolled her eyes. "I think I'll be able to manage."

As I briefly amused myself with the idea of the cataclysm that would result if the two tsunderes actually did get involved in a relationship with each other, Homura had other things on his mind which he decided too voice. "Tsukimui, when you were trying to… well, punish Shirou for his perceived transgression, you said some interesting things."

"Huh? What did I say?"

"Well, did you really mean it when you said that I deserved the best among them for my Ashikabi?"

The woman's blush increased at this and she looked off to the side. "Do-don't misunderstand! As my rival, it is natural that you have someone that s-suits you. And as I am the strongest Sekirei, that means that you can have no less than best among these monkeys!"

"Uh huh…" Homura replied, clearly not really sure how to respond to that.

"So," Rin said briskly. "Are you ready?"

"Y-yes." Tsukiumi replied, though she still looked uncomfortable. She moved closer to Rin. "I have found you to be worthy. I, Tsukiumi, No. 09, will become your Sekirei," She then closed her eyes tight and slowly leaned forward, her lips puckered almost comically. However, the moment before their lips touched, she pulled back. "And only your Sekirei, understand? I will not stand for any nonsense about me being your wife or some-!"

She was abruptly cut off as Rin rolled her eyes once more and leaned forward to press her lips against the other woman's. I was once again subjected to the spectacle of a Sekirei being winged, and once again it was a rather beautiful sight to behold. Delicate pillars of what looked to be made of water sprung from her back, forming into the shape of wings. As they stretched, the Sekirei crest appeared and hovered over her back for a few moments before it sunk down into it, the wings fading along with it.

Tsukiumi pulled back, obviously flustered from Rin stealing the kiss from her, but she was still able to finish the phrase I was becoming used to. "… Forever and ever."

Homura smiled at his fellow Sekirei. "Congratulations, Tsukiumi."

"Yay!" Musubi exclaimed. "You're part of the group now!"

Tsukiumi made a sour face. No doubt she intended to tell the brunette just how she was not 'part of the group' as she thought, but my attention was suddenly taken by a new pair of scents that appeared on the edge of my perception. They were faint, but they were moving in our direction. "Someone's coming." I said.

"What?" Tsukiumi said, looking confused as she followed my gaze and saw nothing. "What are you talking about? I see no one."

Rin on the other hand knew of how my sense for magic could detect the aliens and asked "How many?"

"Two, definitely Sekirei." I replied, still looking. "They're coming straight for us, so it's probable that they have some kind of interest in us."

Ring glanced around at the group taking stock. 3 Sekirei plus the two of us meant that we could probably handle any pair that we might encounter. After a moment, she said "Well, this might be a good chance to see what our Sekirei can do."

"Does that mean I get to fight now, Rin-san?" Musubi asked, once again resuming the fighting stance that she had only minutes before assumed to fight the woman standing next to her.

"Hmp." Tsukiumi huffed as she folded her arms under her chest. "If that is the case, then I will show you just why I am the strongest Sekirei."

I smiled to myself. "Well, who am I to deny three beautiful women." I turned back to the direction the scent was coming from. "Let's see what they want."

It wasn't long before they popped into view a few rooftops away. I was mildly surprised to see that there were in fact three of them, but quickly realized that the one being carried was likely human. A few moment's later they landed on the other end of the roof, and I realized that I recognized them from Matsu's files.

"Oh dear," the well dressed man who had been carried by one of the woman said as he looked at us. "It seems that there are far more here than I would have thought." He had neck length brown hair and a somewhat feminine face.

"That doesn't matter, Natsuo-san!" The pink haired one in a black gi top and shorts said with violent glee. "If any of them try to resist, I'll turn 'em into paste!"

"…Weren't we just supposed to talk to him?" The silver hair one with the massive blade hands asked, looking at her partner questioningly.

I felt myself tense somewhat. I couldn't say that I knew all of the Sekirei by heart, but I sure as hell knew the members of the Disciplinary Squad. I addressed the man. "You're Natsuo Ichinomi, correct? Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad?"

He looked at me with mild surprise. "Oh? I was not aware that I had a reputation that could precede me, but yes that is so. Whatever the case, you, Shirou Kotomine Sahashi, are just the man I was looking for, though I was hoping for less of an audience."

I gave a small frown at this. "Why would you be look for me? And for that matter, how did you know where I was?" I did not like the idea that they could track me so easily, though I figured that it had something to do with the tracking device they had implanted inside of Homura.

"How I found you is not important. I am here to invite you back to MBI headquarters. It seems that you have attracted the attention of someone rather important."

I blinked in surprise before I gave a snort. "That's an understatement. Were you even told why they were so interested in me? Because if you were, I'm pretty sure you would have known that I'm not too keen on MBI."

The man shifted uncomfortably as he glanced at the Sekirei present. "Yes, well, I was hoping that we could be reasonable and talk about this."

"Huh?" The pink haired one, Benitsubasa, said. "I thought you said I could beat him up if he didn't comply."

"That was when he thought he would only have one Sekirei with him." The other Sekirei, Haihane, remarked dryly.

I looked in mild amusement as Natsuo's discomfort grew. "If that was your plan, you should have brought Karasuba. I'm actually surprised she's not here now."

"She is still being… chastised for trying to provoke the 01 a week ago. Whatever the case may be, perhaps I could still convince you to come along?"

I frowned. "Again, rather unlikely. I suppose that if Minaka really wants to talk to me, he could give me a call. And I promise I won't block his number this time."

"You misunderstand, Sahashi-san. The Director was not the man I had in mind when I said you attracted the attention of someone important. He prefers to be discrete, but you can call him Mr. Black for now."

Now that gave me pause. This was the first I had heard of the man since my mother dropped his name about a week ago. If I did decide to go and meet him…

"Shirou…" I heard Rin say slowly next to me, her tone low and full of warning. "You're getting that 'I'm considering doing something very stupid' look again. Please tell me that you're not actually considering this."

I turned to face her. "This could be a good chance for getting answers."

"And you know what this is a better chance of? You stupidly walking right into a trap and getting yourself killed!" she replied heatedly.

I was about to respond when my phone started to ring. I gave a grumble of annoyance and took it out with the intent to send it to voice mail, but I stopped when I saw who it was. I turned back to Natsuo, my expression somewhat sheepish. "Ah, excuse me for a moment."

He arched an eyebrow, but said. "Of course, take your time."

I gave a nod of appreciation and put the phone to my ear. "You have some rather interesting timing, mother."

"Whatever you're talking about Minato, I'm sure it doesn't matter. There's something very important I have to tell you."

"That the leader of the Disciplinary squad wants to take me in? I know, I was talking to Natsuo just a second ago."

"Wait, what?" Takami said, sounding genuinely surprised at this. "That wasn't- wait what do you mean he wants to take you in?!"

I arched an eyebrow at her response. "Well, apparently someone named Mr. Black wants to see me. Ring any bells?"

The line was silent for a moment before I heard profanity on the other end of the line. My mother then all but shouted "Minato, no mater what, you are not to go with him! I am going to sort this out right now, and you are going to stay where you are, do you hear me?!"

"Wow, it almost sound's like you don't want me meeting this man." I remarked somewhat sarcastically. "I don't suppose you could tell me more about him."

"Not now Minato," She ground out. "Any more flippancy like that and I won't tell you what I was actually going to."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. What is the really important thing you have to tell me?"

Again there was a moment's pause before she said. "Do you remember that personal favor you asked of me that day with all the nonsense with Yukari and the 108?"

I tensed. "You mean you found something out about Sakura?" I asked. Rin also stood at attention the moment I said that.

"You can certainly say that. I was looking over her medical records when I remembered why her description was so familiar. MBI has been keeping tabs on someone who matches her profile who's been spending time with one of our… former assists. Minato, given the picture I've gotten of the woman, I'd say that there's a 95% chance that it's her."

The news hit me like a lightning bolt, and I stagger slightly upon hearing it. "S-she's awake…? And i-in the city? Takami, do you know where she is?! Please tell me you know where she is!"

If my mother was taken aback by my sudden increase in volume, she didn't show it. "As a matter of fact, I managed to find her on traffic cameras a few minutes ago. Last I checked she was heading towards the north-east part of the city, right between the financial and residential districts." She paused for a moment. "Actually, if I didn't know any better, I would think she was heading for your place."

"My place…" I said absently. I don't know if she said anything back after that. The conversation had just become irrelevant. Were things different, I might have realized that she was trying to keep me away from MBI, but I had no time for such thoughts. At that moment, Sakura was awake. She was around my apartment.

And Natsuo was standing in my way.

Using every once of self-restraint I had, I stay where I was and said "We're leaving."

The man raised his hands pleadingly. "Now, I can't just let you-"

With Reinforcement and Sacrament empowering me, I sprinted forward at top speed. _Well, I tried_, I thought.

Fast as I was, two Sekirei next to him were quick enough to respond. Benitsubasa charged forward to intercept me, her fist cocked back. With a swift motion I deployed and threw three Black Keys from my sleeve at her legs. Surprised as she was, she still managed to jump to avoid them. However, this left her in the air by the time I reached her, and with no leverage she could do nothing as I shoved her to the side. Haihane went in for the straight stab, but I launched myself over her, the Sekirei clearly not expecting a human to have such a high vertical jump.

I landed in front of Natsuo, the man having gone from surprised to alarmed in a matter of seconds. He was still in the way, so I corrected that. As I continued to move forward, I swept my arm across my body, my palm facing out such that it slammed then dug into the man's side. My fingers found purchase in his flesh, and I felt ribs crack I threw him violently off to my side.

I leap to the next roof. I didn't bother watching the other Ashikabi land. I didn't care. I had a reunion five years in the making to get to.

* * *

The building was on fire and it wasn't Nero's fault.

Well, she wasn't exactly sure whose fault it was considering that none of the three women present had used any fire based attacks, but regardless at some point between the all consuming shadows and barrage of icicles, the apartment had burst into flame. The gas line to the stove had probably been ruptured, and for the moment was mostly contained to what use to be her and Shirou's apartment. Of course, Nero had somewhat bigger problems than her housing situation for the time being. Namely that Sakura was apparently up and about.

And she was rather angry.

"_Sakura?" Nero said incredulously, the cloth in her hands falling to the ground at the sight of the other woman. There was another woman standing behind her in a loose fitting kimono, but the emperor paid her no mind. "You're awake? That's amazing! We were so worried when we heard that you had disappeared from the hospital!"_

_Sakura blank expression did not change. "Why would you be worried about me?"_

_Nero suppressed a grimace. "Because in spite of what you may think of me, I do care for you." To say things had been unpleasant between them the last they had spoke would be an understatement, thought to be fair, the white-hair woman had been possessed by the embodiment of evil at the time._

"_Really. Did you care back when you took my Shirou from me, or is this a recent development?" Sakura said somewhat coldly. _

_The cold pit in Nero's stomach reminded her that her own actions when it came to her Praetor were at least in part responsible for Sakura's loss of will against the darker nature inside of her. She had found out what Nero, Rin and Shirou had done together at the worst possible time, and that had been the straw the broke the camel's back, as it were. If only the situation had been different, if only she had know more, if only Shirou wasn't just discovering how to be a normal human being during a bloody war. "It didn't mean… it wasn't supposed to mean anything. Had I known how you felt, I would let you know."_

_Sakura said nothing for a moment before she abruptly said "Just how is it you are still alive? I thought I was just a coincidence of name when I heard someone talking about you at that little shop, but now I am rather glad that they were able to point me in the right direction."_

_Nero blinked before responding "Shirou is very skilled and clever. His affinity with flame has allowed him to develop a technique which converts fire directly into mana. He has used this skill to sustain me beyond what he could normally archive."_

_The other woman looked of into space, her hand idly tracing the faint markings down the side of her cheek and neck. "He does that… using fire to save what he cares about."_

"_And he does care for you," Nero insisted. "He always has."_

"_Of course he does." Sakura responded without hesitation or doubt. "Things would have turned out they way they were supposed to if it wasn't for you and my… sister."_

_Nero put up her hands, trying to placate the other woman. "Sakura, I believe the best course of action is for all of us involved to join together and discuss the situation. I can give Shirou a call right now and I assure you he will be he within a matter of minutes when he learns of you're presence."_

_Sakura frowned, but her posture relaxed slightly at the mention of Shirou coming. "You say that as if we could come to some kind of arrangement. I don't believe that I will be as flexible as my sister in this regard."_

"_Shirou isn't being particularly flexible about it either." Nero remarked, taking Sakura's response as an affirmative and pulling out her phone. "It can be somewhat frustrating at times, but really he is just trying to be a good husband."_

_The air between the two women became deathly quiet in that instant. Then, Sakura said in a small voice "Husband?"_

_Nero paused and her eyes involuntarily flicked to her hand holding the phone, the one which also happened to bear her wedding ring. Sakura's noticed, and her eyes widened. Then they narrowed and her fists clenched at her sides. Shadows of the darkest black began pouring from her body and reached for the emperor. Nero leapt back, but not before the shadows that had tried to reach for her hand touched her cell phone and it instantly turned to dust._

"_Akitsu," Sakura said, her voice as dark as the shadows that surrounded her. "Kill her."_

"_Yes mistress."_

Nero had done her best to try to calm the woman back down, but to no avail. The fight had spilled out of the ruined apartment and into the street, and Nero was put on the defensive from the combined assault of the two other women. Normally she would not be overly concerned; even though her prana was not at full at the moment, a Servant such as herself should be able to handle a human magi and one of these alien beings. This was complicated by a number of things however, not in the least of which that she didn't want to hurt either of them. The pale haired Sekirei was the most powerful of the creatures that she had met thus far excluding Miya-dono. Not only that, Sakura's particular power of Absorption was quite effective against being comprised of prana such as herself.

Although it was worth noting that the white haired girl's shadows were behaving differently than Nero remembered. Before they generally had no effect on physical objects or exerted a simple physical force. Now they seemed to… disintegrate anything they touched. She had no idea what caused this change or what it could possibly mean, but she had no reason to believe that it made Sakura any less dangerous. This was not a fight she wanted to have.

Nero's mouth twisted as she raised her massive blade Aestus Estus to deflect another barrage of icicles, only to have to jump away from shadows a moment later. This wasn't a fight that was supposed to happen at all. Yes, Sakura should be upset and angry over what had happened, but to truly wish her dead because of it? That was not the Sakura she knew all those years ago. Nero felt nothing of the overwhelming corruption and hate that had been present when the other woman had carried the essence of Angra Mainyu, but she still was not acting rationally. Nero's gut twisted at the thought that the corruption may have had twisted the woman more than Shirou had been able to purge.

Nero twisted in midair so that her feet ended up planted flat against a lamppost she was about to crash into. With a powerful push, she flung herself at the kimono wearing woman in an attempt to knock her out and remover her from the battle. If Akitsu was surprised she did not show it, as an instant later a barrier of ice formed between the two women. Nero slammed into the wall with the flat of her blade, causing it to shatter violently into several large pieces. The ice woman had tried to move to the side the moment the barrier had been formed, but she had not anticipated how quickly it would be brought down. She avoided the majority of the debris (which smashed into the building behind her like a set of cannon balls), but she was still hit with enough that she let out a sharp cry of pain before being thrown to the ground.

"Akitsu!" Sakura screamed as she saw her companion fall. She had been farther off to the side when this happened, a little ways down the sidewalk such that the fallen woman was now roughly between the two others. Sakura's face twisted even more in anger, and her aura of shadow nearly doubled as she advanced on the Servant. "I won't let you take anyone else away from me!"

Tendrils of shadow lashed out in several directions at once, once again forcing the Servant to dodge. Normally she would try to cut through them with Aestus Estus, but she wasn't sure if the blade would survive contact. If she misjudged, it could leave her weaponless. She could probably use some of the debris around as makeshift projectiles, but it was unlikely that she could throw one fast enough to make it through the shadow before it dissolved but slow enough that it wouldn't kill Sakura on impact. Nevertheless, Nero still cut up a nearby mailbox and flung the pieces in the other woman's direction; not so that they would actually hit her, but close enough that she would have to spend a moment dealing with them and would slow her down.

Nero's lists of viable options were growing thin. She only had one thing left in her arsenal that might be effective in this situation: her Noble Phantasm, Aestus Domus Aurea. A High Thaumaturgy that created an area where she could achieve her aspirations. It would be risky; using it required a large amount of prana, and would put her dangerously close to empty. Still, the only other option she had was to run, and she could not allow herself to do that. If she lost sight of Sakura after finding her awake, he Praetor would be devastated. Nero could only hope that she would only need to sustain the field for a short time in order to subdue the magus.

Nero leapt high into the air, landing on the top of one of the few lampposts left standing on the street. She gathered as much of her prana as she dared and focused, holding her blade downward and away from herself. Then, she began to chant the aria in Latin.

"_Behold my Glory…_"

Sakura looked alarmed, and moved forward to stop her.

"_Hear the thunderous applause…_"

Nero swept her free arm out, shaping the prana into form.

"_Sit down and praise…_"

Sakura lashed out with a shadow tendril, but it was too late.

"_My-_!"

Nero chant and focus were suddenly cut off when pain lanced up her right leg. She looked down to find that an icicle had pierced her calf, and upon looking up she found that Akitsu, still somewhat battered, had managed to pull herself to her feet and now held a hand out towards her. The wound was a paltry one to a Servant such as herself, but it had still unfortunately interrupted her cast, as well as confirmed her suspicion that her magic resistance was ineffective against whatever power these Sekirei had.

The shadow tendrils reached her, and lamppost was turned to dust moments after she threw herself off it. Her injured leg hampered her movement, such that she fell to the ground only a short distance away. She would land, but Sakura knew where that would be, and several more shadows lanced out at that position. Nero could only watch helpless as she fell.

However, moments before she would be reached, something shrouded in flame dropped from the building nearby and landed between the two women, fire bursting outwards as it landed. Sakura stumbled back in surprise, her attack halted. Nero landed safely (and on her good leg thankfully).

A moment later the shroud diminished, and standing among the diminishing fires was Shirou, his overcoat billowing out behind him. Nero did not know how he knew to come, but did not question it. He looked at Sakura, his expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Sakura…"

The effect was instantaneous. All traces of anger and hostility vanished from the woman, and in an instant she was the sweet girl that they had once known. "Sempai!" she said with a bright smile on her face and joy in her voice. She began to move forward to close the distance between the two of them.

"What are you doing?" Shirou asked, and the question brought her to a halt. His tone was filled with confusion and worry, and that seemed to give her pause.

"W-what do you mean what am I doing?" Sakura asked. "I'm here to find you. I'm here to be with you."

Shirou looked around, both at Nero and at the slowly growing fire that was consuming his home. "What happened here? Why are you attacking Nero?"

Sakura took a step back, confusion now present in her voice as well. "S-she took you away from me! Her and my sister all those years ago!" She put a hand over her heart. "We're supposed to be together Sempai! I followed the bond we have so that I found you here!"

Shirou looked at her helplessly. "So you decide to disappear from your hospital room without telling anyone, and burn down my apartment trying to kill my wife?" Sakura flinched as he said that last word. "How did you think that would make me feel?"

Sakura began to tremble. "B-but I… I just wanted…" Her hand griped the side of her head as she looked around, as if seeing things for the first time. "I didn't mean…" her gaze finally settled back on Shirou and her eyes widened, as if coming to a realization. She let out something between a shriek and a sob and took another step back.

"Sakura…" Shirou said as he moved forward.

"Stay back!" she shouted as her aura of shadows sprung up around her once more. "Stay away from me!" She moved back father, as if she was making to bolt.

"No! Don't go!" Shirou pleaded. "Please, whatever you do, please don't go."

"I-I shouldn't have thought I was better. I'm still w-worthless." She said, tears streaming down her face. "I hurt the things you care about and I didn't even think about it." She gave a small sob before she continued. "If I stay with you I will t-taint the things you love."

"Don't ever say that!" Shirou shouted back. "I don't know what's happening, but we'll get through it. I promise you everything will better now."

"I d-don't want to hurt you…" she said weakly.

Shirou shook his head. "You won't," he said, and he walked towards her.

The aura of shadows still shrouded the woman but she didn't move. "I'm s-sorry, I just wanted…"

He got within a foot of her and extended his arms out to her. "Dere-dere…"

As soon as the nickname escaped his lips, the shadows disappeared. Sakura all but pitched forward into his arms crying as hard as she could. The two sank to their knees in the middle of the street, Shirou cradling Sakura's head to his chest while he whispered things to her that Nero couldn't make out.

Nero watched the scene before her with rapt attention. She was aware of other things; the pain in her leg, the way Akitsu watched the two as attentively as she did despite her own injures. Rin, her Sekirei, Homura and a new woman arrived a short time later. But those were only barely acknowledged by her.

Before her was a sublime moment of bittersweet reunion. Though as beautiful as it was, she hoped that Sakura would have more happy moments from now on.


	17. Chapter 14

The tone of the Izumo Inn's living room was a tense one, with most of the residents plus some others sitting on the floor. Shirou himself sat with his back to the wall, Sakura more or less in his lap as he held her. She had calmed down since Rin arrived on the scene to find her crying in the man's arms (and his apartment on fire), and now she was dozing somewhat peacefully with her head nestled in the crook of his neck. Everyone in the house had questions about who she was and what happened, but Shirou wasn't talking just yet, instead opting to take some time to just be near his old friend. Considering the fact that he had not let her go from the moment Rin found the two, it was safe to say that he was feeling somewhat protective at the moment.

This was compounded by the fact that the rather busty woman in the kimono with the mark on her forehead (which Rin had quickly deduced was Sakura's Sekirei) would not let anyone get close to the pair. It was very clear she was protective of her Ashikabi, but the magus wasn't sure why she let Shirou get so close while keeping the others at bay. Still, Rin did not feel like questioning that at the moment, as this probably was the best thing for her sister right now. Nero had told her what had happened at the apartment and Rin shared her concern for Sakura's mental state. Not knowing just what was wrong with her gnawed at Rin's insides.

So, Rin stood in the doorway to the living room, looking at her two oldest friends. The rest of the Sekirei (including Rin's own) and Shirou's sister was in the room, broken into small groups and talking with each other. Miya was in the kitchen preparing something and Nero, oddly enough, was tending to the wounds of Sakura's Sekirei. It seemed that while the silent woman did not want anyone approaching those two, she had less issue with anyone approaching herself. The woman took the treatment stoically, and gave only a few words in response to Nero's own questions. Rin couldn't hear what said, but was hardly surprised when the Sekirei started to blush at Nero's latest inquiry.

Rin's mouth twisted slightly when Sakura began to shift and murmur, but Shirou whispered something to her and she settled back down. She felt so many different things at seeing her sister awake again; happy of course, some guilt at not visiting her in the hospital more often, unease at her behavior. But there was more than that, as she felt something else as she looked at the two of them together. It wasn't quite a good feeling. It was a strange, twisted feeling like...

Rin gave a sigh. _Leave it to Shirou to make me feel confused_, she thought to herself. The man had been doing that since he had first met her. She decided to it would be best to leave the room before anyone noticed how much she was staring at the pair. She really didn't need anyone getting weird impressions and asking her what the deal was with her and Shirou.

"So, what's the deal with you and Shirou?" Homura asked, coming up behind her.

Rin nearly fell flat on her face at the unexpected question. She wheeled around to face the man, and did not at all like the small smirk on his face at her response. "J-just what do you mean by that?" She asked indignantly. "Shirou and I are old friends. I thought I had already explained this."

"Yes, though I get the distinct impression that there is more to it than that." Homura remarked. "I might not know everything that's going on, but I know that there's a history here. And with the way you two behave around each other, well, has it really been 5 years since you last saw each other?"

Rin had half a mind to tell the man to mind his own business, but decided she just didn't have the energy to get mad at him right now. Instead she just looked off to the side. "It's… complicated. Things changed between us after the 'secret magi war' as you so eloquently put it. We were just friends before, but after… I'm not sure what we were to each other. We didn't have a lot of time to figure it out either, as we graduated high school soon after." She paused for a moment to think about the last time she saw him before coming here. "I wanted to go to London. He didn't. So we just went our separate ways."

"So, you think that there's some unresolved business between the two of you?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

Rin turned her head back towards him, a frown on her face. "Do you always make these sort of comments about people's personal matters, or are you just rude in general?"

The man blinked in surprise before have the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry. I'm a host at my day job, so I'm kind of used to talking about this sort of thing with my clients. Sometimes I think I could get another job in relationship counseling." Rin's eyes narrowed at this, as she suspected that she was unconsciously readying her right eye to fire as moments later he looked panicked and waved his arms in front of him. "Not that I'm saying you need any! I'm just trying to understand my Ashikabi better! And since you and he are close I thought…"

Rin glared at him for a moment longer before giving a sigh. "The problem is I don't know how close we are…" she grumbled to herself.

A moment later the landlady came into the room, a tray with tea and snacks in her hands. She set them on the table before turning to Shirou. "Now Shirou, I understand that today has been rather trying for you, but I would appreciate it if you could explain these new friends of yours." She said, sparing a glance at the girl in his lap. While this normally might have brought her ire, she had allowed it for now as she could tell that the deacon was very serious in this particular matter.

Shirou hesitated for a moment to look at Sakura before he picked her up and set her down next to him. She awoke at this movement, and while she looked disappointed, she did not say anything as he stood. "Very well," he said. "This is Sakura Matou, one of my oldest friends, and until a few weeks ago, was in a coma for the past five years."

"Another old friend?" Yukari gasped. "So she's the estranged exotic one who suddenly shows up in your life to cause chaos! Well, I as the imouto will-"

"Yukari." Shirou said rather sharply, cutting off his sister. The look he gave her was not a pleased one. "Don't make assumptions about my past, especially in this." Yukari actually flinched back a little from his tone, so he relaxed a bit. "Sorry, this is a little... close to the heart for me."

"So it would seem." Miya said evenly. "Though I'm afraid I do not understand why you seem so somber. I would think that you would be overjoyed at her appearance if what you say is true."

"Well..." He said as he looked around somewhat awkwardly. "My apartment happened to catch fire for some reason when she came to see me, so-"

"Sempai." Sakura interrupted, now far more collected than she was earlier. "You don't have to lie for me." Her hands gripped the hem of her dress, but her voice remained steady. "It was my fault. I attacked Nero out of anger and..." She looked up at Shirou, her eyes watering somewhat. "I'm so sorry..."

Shriou though quickly waved it off. "Don't worry about it too much. It was just things. Anything I had that was truly important I kept in the basement." He paused for a moment. "Or was resistant to fire."

Rin suppressed an amused snort at that. It wasn't uncommon practice among magi to strengthen your research materials in case something went catastrophically wrong (which given magic, was more frequent that anyone would have liked). She wouldn't be surprised if half the things he owned were fine. Given the fact that he had quickly put out the flames before they left for the inn, the damage would likely be minimal.

Miya arched an eyebrow. "You and your wife seem to be awfully... accepting of this situation. You do not strike me as the kind of man who would let an attack on his wife go unanswered, even if the one responsible was an old friend."

It was Nero who responded this. "Worry not, for this was an old and personal matter which got out of hand. Sakura is right to have grievance with me, and while how much things escalated is of some concern, I do not bear her any ill will. As for the matter of our residence, I agree with my husband. While the loss is regrettable, an artist must never dwell on the past and instead looks to the future."

"And has the matter been settled? This is no violence in the Izumo House, after all."

"That will not be a problem." Sakura said as she got to her feet. "Thank you for your hospitality, but it would be best if I-"

"No." Shirou said. "Sakura I-"

"I don't deserve to be with you!" She yelled, losing the calm she had gained. "The first thing I did when I learned Nero was your wife was that I tried to-!"

"Stop!" He said before he calmed down slightly. "I don't believe that. I can't. I promised you I would help you and God damn it I'm going to."

The room was tense as the two stared at each other. Eventually Sakura's shoulders slumped in defeat as she looked down at the ground.

"Thank you." Shirou breathed out, tension leaving his own shoulders as he took her posture as acceptance. He turned back to the landlady. "If it is alright, can she stay here for the time being?"

Miya looked apprehensive. "I am not sure. Normally I would not turn anyone away, but it does not seem that this is behind you."

"I'll take responsibility." He said. "I should probably ask if I can move in as well, seeing as how I don't have a place to live at the moment. Considering that most of the people I care about are living here already, well, I might as well be here too."

Miya continued to look at the man for a few moments longer before giving a sigh. "Very well. My husband would always take in those in need." She looked about the room. "Well? Enough standing around gawking. Shoo!" she gestured to the assorted residents, who reluctantly left to their own devices. She then turned to Sakura. "My dear, I will show you to your room in a moment, but first I must speak with Sahashi-kun."

Sakura gave her a confused look before Shirou said "She means me." Another confused look. "I'll tell you about it later."

After a moment Sakura moved to sit next to her Sekirei on the opposite side of Nero. Rin move closer to Miya and Shirou to hear what was said. Miya gave her a sidelong glance before saying. "There is a great deal more which you are not saying. I imagine that it has to do the more... secret part of your life."

"Yes." Shirou admitted. "It's a long and complicated story, but suffices to say, she has been through a lot and she needs some peace in her life."

"And will this past come back and disrupt the livelihood of the inn?"

"It shouldn't. I will make sure of it."

Again, she paused for a moment before her eyes crinkled shut and she smiled. "I will hold you to that. If the story is a long as you say, then I shall not ask you to tell it at the moment, as I can tell you are anxious to reconnect with your old friend. However, if you are to be moving in, I will have to remind you of all of the rules which my residents must follow." She gave a glance at his wife. "The rule about lewd acts comes to mind."

Shirou turned to look at his wife and found her to be rather enthusiastically rearranging the stoic women's kimono, seemingly to let it show as much flesh as possible. The woman bore this silently, though she had a flush on her face. Sakura also said nothing, though her eyebrow was twitching furiously. "Yeah..." Shirou said somewhat sheepishly as he turned back to Miya. "That might be a problem. We are married after all."

"I am not unreasonable. As you are a married couple, I will allow such behaviors as long as the two of you are quiet and discreet."

Shirou was silent for a moment before a look of embarrassment crossed his face. "Yeeeeeah... That might be a problem."

* * *

I suppressed a sigh of relief as Sakura and I walked into her room. Miya had given me a rather stern lecture on what would and would not be allowed within her home for about ten minutes. Like I was the one who was going to be a problem. Nero was not going to be happy about it, to say the least.

However, the logistics of fulfilling my duties as a husband would have to wait for the moment. I had asked for some time alone with Sakura, so now it was just the two of us with her Sekirei standing outside. She turned to face me, but we were both silent for a moment, simply looking at each other's faces. I felt an old pang of guild run through me again at the sight of her white hair and red eyes. The light markings down the side of her face and under her collar did little to ease those feelings. I still felt responsible for that, that I was the one who put her in her current state.

"A lot has happened while I was asleep, hasn't it?" Sakura said softly.

I gave a small start as I snapped out of my thoughts. "I suppose so. After you… after the Grail War, Rin and I graduated and we went our separate ways. Rin went to the Clock Tower, and I became an Executor. I actually hadn't seen her in person again until a few weeks ago by pure chance."

Sakura looked mildly surprised by this, but she kept her tone muted. "So, I just happened to show up just when the two of you were reconnecting."

"Sakura… why did you just up and disappear?" I finally asked. "Why didn't you tell someonr at the hospital to contact me?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I was scared. When I woke up, I could barely move, and you weren't there. I didn't know how long I had been asleep, and I was afraid of who might have been watching over me… so I ran." She frowned and put her hand over her chest. "I'm not sure how, but I can feel you. Some part of you was left in me the day you purified me of my darkness. I… thought that if I could find you everything would be better again."

I was silent for a moment before a thought occurred to me. "So, what have you been doing for the past 2 weeks? For that matter, where have you been spending your nights?" When I had asked Miya to let her stay earlier, I had automatically assumed that she had nowhere else to go. A rather silly assumption as she seemed to be managing just fine from all appearances.

Sakura was taken somewhat off guard by this question, but she responded. "It wasn't a very precise feeling, so I've spent most of it wandering around the city looking for you. And I've been staying in hotels. It wasn't much, but I did have some money left over in my bank account. I was actually a little surprised that nothing had happened to it over the years."

I gave a small hum. "I probably should have thought of that. Now I feel kind of foolish."

"Not as much as I do." She said despondently. "I… haven't really been thinking at all since I woke up. I should have thought about how you would have taken care of me. I should have thought about what my actions would do. I should have thought about… how you probably moved on."

I felt my heart ache at this, but I didn't know how to respond. She continued, touching the side of her head. "Lately I've been feeling things too strongly. My mind goes blank, and I feel like… like I did when the darkness had control of me." Sakura looked at me with pleading eyes. "I-I'm dangerous. And I don't know what to do."

I looked at her for a moment longer before I stepped forward and embraced her in another hug. She stiffened a little at the contact, but she quickly relaxed. With my chin resting on the top of her head, I said "Leaving won't make it better. If it really is as bad as you say, then you need to be with people who want to help. And you find no better place than here with us." I paused for a moment as I felt a small twisting sensation in my gut. "Well, if you want my help anyway. I would understand if you didn't, considering the last time…"

Sakura looked up at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't exactly do a stellar job fixing you." I said awkwardly. "I mean, you fell into a coma for 5 years, and you never did change back…"

She continued to look at me for a few moments before a look of comprehension crossed her face. She then gave me a sad smile. "Sempai, you did the impossible. I'm not going to be mad at you because you didn't do the impossible perfectly. Besides, you don't even know if this could have turned out any better than it did." She paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. "Do you remember all though times we cooked together? How you helped me with my recipes?"

I blinked in surprise at the sudden question. "Yes."

"And do you remember all those times you encouraged me when I was at my lowest? And how most of all you tried to help me, even when it would have been easier to let me die?"

"Well, yes, but of course I would do that."

Sakura's smile brightened. "That's why I trust you, sempai. You always look out for me, not matter what. You can't even think of doing anything else. As for the way I look… do you still find me pretty?"

Again, I blinked at this but it quickly turned into a sigh and a small smile. This was Sakura. Regardless of how her appearance might have changed, there was only one answer I could give. "Sakura, you're beautiful."

As soon as the words escaped my lips, she reached up and pulled my head down so that her lips could meet my own. It was a simple thing, held for but a few seconds. When she pulled back, her eyes were filled with sad but hopeful tears. "I love you, Shirou."

Oh God, what the hell was I supposed to do? Well, the answer was obvious really, but this was entirely different from Matsu. Matsu was just some woman I met a few minutes before. This was Sakura. How could I ever do anything to hurt her? But… there was no other way. I was married. So, I decided to do the only honorable thing I could, no matter how painful it would be. I had to tell her that I didn't love her back.

"Sakura, I-"

My chest seized up and a wheeze came out of my throat. Huh. Must have been a muscle spasm or something.

"Sakura-"

I kept trying to push air out of my lungs, but no sound came forth. Weird. It happened twice in a row.

"I don't-"

Once again, I found myself unable to finish the sentence. What the hell was going on?

"Sempai?" Sakura asked curiously.

I gave a sigh as I lost my will in the face of those eyes. "Let's just stay like this for a while, ok?" I said, as I tightened my arms around her a little.

She gave a smile and a nod as she put her head against my chest. And so we stood there, letting all of our worries fade away.

* * *

Eventually I left the room, a mixture of happiness and worry filling me. I was glad that Sakura was feeling better than she had earlier today, but I was still concerned over the fact the status of our relationship was somewhat questionable. She had made it abundantly clear how she felt about me, but I had been unable to respond one way or another.

I gave a brief nod to the stoic woman in the kimono who stood by the door, who returned it in kind. There was a great deal I was curious about this woman, but at the moment I had other problems to deal with. I walked a short ways down the hall and turned the corner to find Rin leaning against the wall. She seemed to be waiting for me, as she asked "So, how's she doing?"

"Better." I said. "She says she's been having problems thinking clearly at times, and that she's been feeling some violent tendencies."

Rin grimaced and looked off to the side. "Do you think it's Angra Mainyu? That there's still some trace of it left in her?"

I gave a weary sigh. "I don't know. I don't think that there is, but I can't be sure as I have no idea of how to detect it. Maybe I should have Yukia come by. Or maybe you could-" I cut myself off.

The other woman knew why. "She still hates me, doesn't she."

"No." I quickly said. "She doesn't hate you. I'm pretty sure that intellectually she understands what happened, but she's just… unstable right now."

Rin shook her head and let out an exasperated growl. "Gah! I just wish I knew what to do! There's too much going on right now for this!"

"No kidding." I was silent for a moment before I said. "She still loves me. Not really surprising I guess, but I don't know…" I trailed off, noticing Rin was looking at me expectantly. "What?"

"Well? What did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her anything!" I exclaimed, throwing up my hands as I did so. "I tried to give her the same speech I gave to Matsu, but I kept choking up for some reason." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I had no problems doing this a week ago."

Rin arched an eyebrow at me. "You, being unable to be blunt? There's a first. So what, do you think that you need practice or something?" she asked sarcastically.

I gave a snort. "I don't know. Maybe."

The hallway was silent for a moment before she said. "Ok. Try it with me."

"Wait, what?"

Rin blushed and looked off to the side. "I said try it with me. Tell me you don't l-love me."

Now I was really confused. "Tsun-tsun, this is really weird, even for you. Why do you-"

"Geez, I'm trying to be helpful here!" She yelled at me, her face still red. "Now man up and say it, damn it!"

I was still confused, but the tension of the day had caught up with me, so I yelled back "Fine! Rin, I don't-"

And then my tongue tripped over it and a bunch of nonsense spilled out. My eyebrow twitched furiously. "God damn it!" I yelled out. "What the hell is wrong with me?! Apparently I can't say that to anyone today!"

Rin was taken aback a little out my outburst and fell silent. For a while neither of us said anything, just standing in the hallway and letting out tempers cool. Finally, Rin said "Well, we should probably get a larger sample set to be sure." Her tone was subdued, but there was a hint of mirth in it. "Maybe you should try Nero next."

Tired as I felt, I couldn't help but crack a small grin. Still I gave a dismissive wave of my hand. "Nah, that wouldn't work."

"Why not?"

"I would never be able to say that to her anyway. I mean, I love her so much that I doubt I could even get the words ou-"

…

Oh.

…

Shit.

My brain completely came to a halt. Rin might have been saying something to me, but I was in no state to hear. My ability to deal with the situation presented to me was entirely inadequate. I just… the three of them… I wanted… but I couldn't…

Suddenly, in a burst of mad clarity, I knew exactly what I had to do at that moment.

"Homura!" I yelled as I turned and ran from Rin. I ran into the living room and found him buttoning up a shirt.

"Shirou? What's wrong?" he asked.

I griped him by the shoulders. "Homura, as your bro and Ashikabi, I am ordering to go drinking with me!"

"Wh-what?" He exclaimed, clearly confused by my panicked order. "But I have to go to work-"

I began to shake the man violently "I don't care! I can't be sober right now and need someone to yell at!"

"Gah! Fine! You can come to work with me! Just stop already!" He yelled back franticly.

"Good! Let's go!" I grabbed him by the collar and all but dragged him out of the house. I did not want to be capable of rational thought at the moment.

* * *

He couldn't remember his name. He wasn't strong enough. How long had it been since he was made this way? Years at the least. The pain that worked its way through his insides had been growing all those years, and he wanted nothing more than to just let to die. But he couldn't. His Master wouldn't let him.

So he continued to work, down in the basement lab of the MBI building. He worked the DNA sequencers constantly. It wasn't like he needed sleep anymore. Most of his existence was just a blur of pain and images.

That day however, there was something different. The door to the lab opened and a woman with white hair walked in, anger radiating off of her. She came to a stop in the center of the lab, glaring at him and the rest of those there that were like him. "Well? Where is he? Where the hell is Mr. Black?"

Something in his memory floated back up to the surface at the sight of this woman. He knew her. She was… of course, she was Takami Sahashi, his old boss. He used to work for her. Well, technical he did still work for MBI, but now it was different. One day his Master came and he needed servants who could understand the science behind the Sekirei. He made him into the thing he was now. Not quite dead, not yet, but still dying. He wouldn't be of any use to his Master dead.

Takami continued to glare at them, but none of the completely robed and cowled figures responded. They weren't supposed to talk to anyone, and most of them couldn't even if they wanted to. He himself didn't have lips anymore. They were replaced with a beak when his Master decided he had nothing more important to say.

Before the woman could say anything else, the voice of his Master was heard from the other side of the room. "Ah, Takami my dear, I trust that you have a good reason for interrupting my research?" He said as the door he walked from closed behind him. His Master wasn't wearing his true form, just the one he uses when talking to others. He appeared to be pale, with black hair, sharp eyes, and a long nose, dressed in a simple business suit.

"Save it. What do you want with my son?" she growled at him.

"Oh? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Bullshit. I know you asked Natsuo to bring him to MBI tower for you. Now I repeat, what do you want with him?"

A smug smile crossed his face. "Ah yes, that. Well, Kotomine is a know dissenter of the Sekirei Plan. I had hoped that I could… persuade him to become admissible to the Plan." His smile faulted somewhat. "Though seeing as how he attacked the head of the Disciplinary Squad unprovoked, it seems that such a course of action in now out of the question."

Master was less than pleased at how Kotomine got away. He had been hoping to lure him into a trap to dispose of him quickly and quietly.

"I don't care what you want." Takami said as she strode closer to him. "You are under no circumstances to get anywhere near him, do you understand me? Any action that is to be taken regarding my son is going to be done by me and me alone."

"But the Director-"

"I do not give one flying shit what that idiot said you could do. If I even think that you are going anywhere near him, I will do everything I can to make your existence a living hell. Now, do you understand me?"

His Master stared at her blankly for a few moments. He started to wonder if his Master was going to kill her right then and there, but instead a smile broke out across his face. "Of course, Takami. Whatever you say."

"Good. And it's Sahashi to you." She said before she strode back out of the lab.

A frown settled on his Master's face. "Tch. That woman is becoming a nuisance. As is her son. Perhaps it is something that runs it the family."

"I am… surprised that you let her live, Master." This was spoken by one of the closer servants to him. He was one of the more important ones if he had retained his ability to speak.

His Master turned, arching an eyebrow. "Hmm? Oh, well it is still too early for that. Close as I am, I still need to make more preparations before the Ritual is preformed. Of course, both she and Kotomine should be dealt with soon." A slow and wicked smile spread on his face. "And I think I know how. Tell me, how have the assimilation rates been among the latest tests?"

The one who spoke before continued. "As before, Sekirei will reject any Apostle blood they come in contact with from most given sources, either becoming sick for a time or outright dying. Even with the changes that have been made during their adjustment, it seems that the species is resistant to change once it settles on a form. However, if the infector is their Ashikabi, there has been shown to be a 73% chance of assimilation, resulting in somewhat viable Apostle/Sekirei hybrids. It's unknown if it is stable in the long run-"

"It is good enough." His master said. "I believe it is time to start expanding to the rest of the Sekirei. I believe that one fellow in the East will be a good place to start. Go there and see to it."

The servant paused for a moment. "And what of Kotomine?"

"I told his mother that I wouldn't go near him." The evil grin returned. "I promised nothing of her daughter."

The servant stood still for a moment longer before he bowed and walked off. His master gave a sigh. "Now, to get back to the matter at hand. It is so rare that I am able to mix business with pleasure." With that, his master walked back through the doors he came from, and he got a glimpse of a pair of wings unfolding before the door shut behind him.

His Master's favorite specimen was through those doors. It was supposed to be one of the broken ones.

It wouldn't be broke for much longer.

* * *

AN: The first chapter of _Birth By Fire_, the story of Shirou Kotomine's Holy Grail War, is now up on my profile. Half of it is made of the 'When Shirou Met -' segments, but I threw some extra stuff in there as well.


	18. Chapter 15

_You know, I would have thought that with my recent physical change, I would be spending _less_ time with other men in this room_, Homura thought to himself as he watched Shirou drunkenly toss back another shot. As soon as the two of them had arrived at the host club where Homura worked, he had quickly brought his Ashikabi to a private room to keep him from disturbing the other customers with what he guessed would be a rather impressive bender. And so far he had been proven right.

Though the reason for said bender (as was told to him in a series of rants on the way there) was filling him with annoyance for some reason or another. "So, let just recap, shall we?" Homura asked the other man, whose head was now pressed against the table. "You have a wife which you love dearly, but you also just realized that you still have feelings for a pair of sisters you knew back in the day which you never resoled anything with. Normally, this would be cause for some concern, but your wife is not only ok with this, but is actively trying to get you to add them to your harem. Shirou, I'm pretty sure that every single man in Japan is legally allowed to stab you for complaining about this."

For his part, Shirou barely lifted his head as he replied flatly "I wasn't aware of that particular law."

"Well, it's technically not a law, but if the jury is stacked with single men, I'm sure the other guy would never be convicted." Homura remarked before giving a sigh. "Alright, I know this probably is a surprise for you, but do you really think this is the best way to deal with it?"

"It's the only way I know how to deal with it!" He exclaimed as he sat upright, wobbling for a moment before he got his balance. "I mean wha am I supposssed to do?!" He slurred slightly.

"Not getting drunk to try to avoid the problem is likly the first step." Homura said dryly. "The next, I would imagine, would be to talk to them about it."

Shirou simply snorted and leaned back in his seat, nursing a drink and muttering petulantly to himself. "Jus talk to them. Right. Like that's easy."

Homura rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. You stared down the Black Sekirei without flinching, but talking to your wife and what I image are your two closest friends is a problem? I know that there is some sort of history between the three of you I don't know about, but it can't be that much of a problem."

Shirou looked at him blankly for a moment before he snorted again and began to laugh drunkenly, although Homura could tell there was a somewhat bitter edge to it. Indeed, when Shirou looked back at him there was a small sneer on his lips. "Really? You think so? Well, why not I just tell you what this little 'history' was, and then you can try to bestow your relationship wisdom, oh host."

The deacon knocked back another drink before he started to speak again. "I'll give you the short version. Back when I was a teenager, dating, relationships, sex, were all things other people did. It just didn't really connect with me. But hey, I had my friends Rin and Sakura. That was a thing I understood. Or thought I did anyway.

He paused for a moment. "Then the Grail War came around and I summoned Nero. Now she was somethin to behold."

"I'm assuming she's the one who made you notice women?" Homura asked, thinking of how the blonde woman was very forward with her own sexuality.

"Nah, not quite." The other man said with a wave of his glass. "That didn't really happen until I had a three-way with her and Rin to keep Nero from fading out of existence."

Homura blinked. "What."

"Tantric Rituals! Ya can exchange more than fluid with 'em!" He said with a stupid grin and a wink. "Rin agreed to give me some of her prana in exchange for pullin her ass out of the fire earlier. I didn't really get it at the time, but I had other things to worry about at the time. Of course after that, I started to notice…"

He gestured wildly for a moment. "Women! I mean, holy shit man! They were like, totally a thing! How the hell had I not noticed before!? And like, romantic emotions? Since when had I started to feel those?! And the two I did it with, just what the hell did I feel about them?!"

Homura just nodded dumbly at this. It was odd, but he perfectly understood what Shirou was trying to say with his drunken babble. He suspected it was do to the bond the two of them had as Ashikabi and Sekirei. Or maybe it was just a guy thing, he wasn't sure.

Shirou continued "Needless to say, I was behind the curve, but that was hardly any excuse. A short while later Sakura found out, and that's when I realized that she had a crush on me since pretty much the beginning. Sweet Christ, how did I not notice that?!"

Regaining his mental footing, Homura said. "So, I'm guessing that caused some drama."

Shirou's bitter laugh returned. "If by drama you mean that it broke down the last bit of her willpower to resist the fragment of the embodiment of all evil that her psychopathic grandfather put in her, and subsequently led to her becoming possessed and going on a killing spree, then yes, things got a little awkward. "

And Homura's footing was gone again. "What."

"So at that point my options were to kill her or try to burn away the darkness in her. Naturally I picked the later, but that put her into a coma for the past five years, and I've been feeling the guilt of that ever since. Then me and Rin went different ways cause we couldn't figure out what we were to each other." He gave a sigh and closed his eyes. "Of course now they've just shown up in my life again and all of those unresolved feelings have come back with them." He opened his eyes somewhat to glare at Homura. "So tell me, given all that, what do you think I should do?"

"Uhhh..." Homura said lamely. He had thought he had already heard the weirdest and most complicated love stories a person in his industry would hear (The one about the pastor, the rabbi and the priestess came to mind), but this one left him speechless. Granted, the inclusion all that magic nonsense complicated things significantly, but that didn't really give him an idea of what to say right then. Eventually, he gave up and said "Fine. I've got nothing. Are you happy?"

"Of course not! I still have to deal with this!" Shirou yelled before slumping back down again.

The other man sighed. "Okay, you don't know what the right thing to do is. So, what is it your heart is telling you to do?"

"My heart is telling me to take all three of them and make love to them until we all pass out."

"...I think you're confusing your heart with a different organ."

His Ashikabi looked at him in surprise for a moment before he burst out laughing. "Ahahahahaha!" He slammed his fist on the table a few times before he calmed down enough to speak. "Hehehe... good one. Maybe I don't have the most honorable intentions after all."

Homura, feeling a little better that he managed to get the other man to cheer up a little, said "And that's what you're so worried about? That you wouldn't treat Rin or Sakura right? "

"No," Shirou said with a frown. "I'm worried that I would."

The Sekirei got frustrated that the cryptic response. "Oh for the love of... Look. I'm trying to empathize with you here, but that's really hard to do when you have 3 beautiful women who are interested in you-"

"I'm not really sure about Rin feeling the same way yet..." Shirou said lamely, but Homura plowed forward.

"-one of which, your actual wife no less, is totally ok with you having harem! And that's not even including Matsu, who would probably both be ok with it and video tape everything!" Homura yelled indignantly. "I mean, seriously, at least you have options! I don't even know what the hell I'm going to do!"

"...Huh? What'da mean by that?" Shirou asked.

Homura blinked in surprise, having not meant to say that. He briefly considered changing the subject, but the first thing that came to mind was how he had met Sakura a week before and hadn't told the man because it didn't seem important at the time. As he really didn't want to talk about that, he simply thought _Ah, screw it_, and gave a sigh before saying "You're not a woman."

"I believe that was established at some point, yes."

Homra ignored the lip and continued. "Remember what Matsu said when you met her? How Sekirei don't really think about what situation their Ashikabi will be in when they met them? Well, it's mostly true, more so on my part than I had ever thought. I was more focused on just finding one so that I could become stable." Homura shifted uncomfortably under Shirou's questioning gaze for a moment. "The adjusters had… problems with me earlier in my life, and I keep changing physiologically many more years after that. Even now I'm more malleable than I should be. It's why I was having such an extreme reaction to you," The man blinked to himself as a thought came to him, which he then voiced. "And I think it's why I've suddenly gained so much muscle in the past few days."

"Huh. So thas what mom was talkin about…" Shirou muttered for a moment before saying. "But I don't get it. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to… you know, being in a relationship with a woman. That was the fantasy after all; once I found my Ashikabi, I'd be stable and have the woman I was supposed to be with. But of course, it didn't quite happen like that. Don't get me wrong," He said, waving his hands in front of him. "I'm not unhappy that you're my Ashikabi. In fact, all things considered, I think it turned out pretty well."

"But I'ma not exactly your type." Shirou said, now catching on.

"Right. It's kind of silly to be concerned about that with all the crap that's going on, but I can't help it. Sekirei are supposed to find their mate when they met their Ashikabi, and now that it seems that's not going to happen, I don't know what to do."

Shirou stared at him blankly. "You'ra host."

"Uh, yes? I thought I would be useful for finding an Ashikabi. What about it?"

The deacon face palmed, then sat up and slammed his fist into the table, causing Homura to jump in surprise. "Well, that settles it. Tonight, we're gettin ya laid!"

Homura nearly choked on his own drink which he had been sipping on at the time. "W-wait, what?!"

Shirou continued with his fist held before him and a fiery passion in his eyes. "I've been remiss in my duties as your bro if you can't even figure out how to use your host skills to pick up women! Tonight I shall take on the sacred duty of Wingman! With my near supernatural ability to attract women and with you not looking like you'll blow over in a strong breeze anymore-"

"It wasn't that bad…" the other man muttered indignantly.

"Yes it was!" Homura's drunk and crazy Ashikabi said cheerfully. "Anyway, with the two of us working together, there'll be no stopping you from getting whatever woman you feel like! Now onwards, to Glory!" Shirou sprang to his feet and towards the door, intent on making the night into an epic tale of partying and pickups…

…and promptly fell on his face before he even got two steps. The room was silent for a few seconds while the Sekirei stared at the man's prone body nonplussed, not sure if he was even still conscious. Eventually the body let out a wheeze. "Our first goal of the night is to get gravity to stop being such a jerk." Shirou said weakly. "Its bein all weird and keeping me from walkin straight."

Homura just sighed and went over to the man, prodding him with his foot. "Shirou, go home. You're drunk."

"Don't wanna." Shirou said petulantly. "Gonna help you get some. Forget about my own problems for a while."

Homura helped the man back into his seat. "In your current state you'll probably do more harm than good. Besides, you already helped with Tsukiumi today, so I think that's enough for one day." He gave a small smile. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Shirou gave a smirk as he leaned back in his seat and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a ringing sound from his pocket. The man fumbled to bring out his cell phone and tried to answer, but his inebriation had extended to fine motor control by this point, and it merely fell out of his grasp and onto the table in front of him. He proceeded to glare at it indignantly.

Homura rolled his eyes and reached for it, pressing a few buttons and putting it on speaker mode. Shirou then said out loud "Uh, hello?"

"I would have thought you would have been able to at least keep your own home from burning down, but I can hardly say I'm surprised that I was wrong." Said a familiar female voice.

"Hello Yukia." Shirou said, and Homura remember that woman Shirou had taken him to when they had first met.

"And the fact that you don't seem to be concerned at all means it was right to assume that it was your own fault."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. It… well itsa long story and I'm too drunk t tell it at the moment."

Homura heard the woman make a snort and her voice lowered in volume, as if she was talking to someone else. "Do you see what I mean, Mitsuo? Completely irresponsible."

"Who's Mitsuo?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"Oh come now, I do have a life outside of you." Yukia chastised. "Besides, you have other things to be concerned with. _He_ managed to get into the city today, and with your apartment burned down, I suspect he went to the inn instead."

"Wait, who are you taking about? Who's goin to the inn?"

* * *

Rin paced in front of the door to her sister's room, fretting about whether or not to go in. Thankfully for her, she had something to distract her from the matter at had. Namely, her last conversation with a certain stupid red head.

_Stupid Shirou and his stupid implications_, she thought as she paced. Her short conversation with Homura had brought that fact that there was still some unresolved tension between her and the man to the forefront of her mind. So, when she was alone with him later, she had tried to maneuver the conversation so that the man would admit that he had no feelings left for her. Then she would be able to final move on. _But no, he had to be an idiot and not say the thing he was supposed to and go say that other thing instead, which only makes things more complicated and most certainly did not make me feel somewhat good to hear-_

"Gah!" Rin yelled in frustration. Say what you will about the loneliness of London, at least she didn't have to deal with these kinds of problems there.

"Is something the matter, sister?" A voice behind her said.

Rin gave a start of surprise and turned to find Sakura standing in the doorway of her room, looking at her with a flat expression. "S-Sakura! Uh, no! Nothing wrong at all!"

Sakura continued to simply look at her expressionless and Rin found herself at a complete loss at what to say to the woman in front of her. This was the first she had actually spoken to her sister in the past five years, and considering that the white hair girl had spent all of that in a coma, she couldn't exactly open with 'So how have you been?'

Eventually the magus's shoulders slumped a bit, and she nervously said "I'm glad that you're awake again."

Rin flinched a little as Sakura's face twisted in anger, but it was short lived as her sister quickly shut her eyes and titled her head down, bringing her emotions under control.

"I... thank you."

Rin blinked in confusion at the strange sequence of actions. "Uh, really?"

Sakura gave a sigh and looked off to the side. "I do not want to make the same mistake twice in the same day."

Rin felt both relieved and tense at this statement. On the one hand it meant that she could actually talk to her sister. On the other, well, it meant that she now had to talk to her sister. And for there to be any meaningful connection to be made between the two of them again, that meant she had to address the elephant in the room. "So..." she said slowly and with much trepidation. "About that night... between me and Shirou..."

Sakura said nothing, be her hands gripped the hem of her dress. Rin didn't really want to talk about it, so she let the words simply spill out of her. "I was cornered by Berserker and that lunatic that was his master and was probably going to be killed but then Shirou showed up and decided to do the stupid thing and save me rather than running and it actually worked somehow and we got away but he tapped himself of prana so Nero was going disappear and there was no way I could owe him for that but the only way I could give him prana was a tantric ritual which Nero joined in because she's perverted like that and not at all because I needed assistance or anything-" he mouth snapped shut before she babbled any more intimate details about what happen that night.

Sakura merely raised an eyebrow in response to this small rant before saying "So the only reason you did it was to repay a debt? You have no feeling towards him at all?"

Rin involuntarily thought back to a while earlier when Shirou had said that… thing he said and began to blush. "W-what? Of course it was just to repay a debt! T-there wasn't another reason!"

Her sister gave her a small, sad smile. "It looks like you still can't be honest with yourself."

"Y-you don't know what you're talking about! Keep those baseless insinuations to yourself!"

The smile lasted on her face for a moment longer before it faded. "Whatever the case, I guess it really doesn't matter now. Shirou's… married. I suppose I should just let it go." She said with a hint of bitterness.

Rin looked at her for a moment before saying "But you can't, can you."

"I… understand why do did it. If anything, you helped him, so I should be thankful. But I just can't. Every time I look at you I think-" and she jabbed her finger at Rin, "it's _your_ fault that he looked at you like that and not me. It's _your_ fault were not together. It's _your fault that_-!" she cut herself off before her voice could raise more, grimacing as she looked off to the side. "Every time I look at you, I feel hate, even though I know I shouldn't."

Rin felt her gut twist at that statement, but she could do no more than look at the ground and say softly "I… wish we were sisters again."

"So do I." Sakura replied. "But I don't know how."

A long uncomfortable silence stretched between the two women. Rin wondered if she should just take her leave right ten and there, but she didn't want to leave it like this. She couldn't leave it like this. It felt like if she did, there would be a gap between the two of them that could never be breached. So, in an effort keep that from happening, Rin blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "So, what if I let you have a go at Shirou and Nero, would that make us even?"

Sakura was apparently not expecting this response, as it threw her completely off balance." Wha-what? B-but I don't-"

Rin was as surprised as her sister at what she just said, but at seeing how it broke the tension, she decided to keep going. Besides, she had forgotten how fun it was to tease her imouto "I mean, it's only fair all things considered. Besides, considering how long it's been, he's probably gotten a lot better at it by now. And Nero..." a small leer formed on her face "well, let's just say she more skills than just those for combat."

Sakura sputtered a little while a blush spread on her cheeks. "I-I don't think that, that you can just tell them to do that. Besides, Shirou doesn't... he doesn't-"

"Of course the idiot loves you. He just doesn't know what to do about it." Rin's mouth said before her brain could catch up.

The white haired woman's eyes widened at this. "What? How could you know?"

"Uh, I…" Rin stumbled around words for a bit, not really sure how to or comfortable with explaining her previous conversation with the man. Thankfully for her, it was at this point there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" she quickly said before running off down the hall.

Ok, so it probably wasn't the best way that conversation could have gone, but at least she felt that there was at least some chance that things might work out between them somehow.

As she reached and opened the front door, she wondered to herself just who would be visiting at such an hour. It had already been bordering on night fall when Shirou had bolted out the door with Homura and by now it was well past the time when visitors would come calling. Quite frankly given the day she just had, she was hoping that it would not be anything too absurd.

So it was understandable that Rin felt some apprehension at the sight of a fourteen year old boy with shoulder length black hair in a long, white tunic with a gold strip running down the middle standing on the doorstep. "Hello!" he said cheerfully. "Is this the Izumo House?"

"…Yes." Rin said warily. She couldn't pin it down, but there was something that unnerved her about the person in front of her. It didn't feel threatening, but it definitely put her hairs on end.

"Excellent! Please inform Shirou Kotomine that I have arrived and would like to see him." And with that he simply pushed his was past Rin and into the inn.

"Hey!" Rin said with some indignation. "I didn't say you could come in! Who are you anyway?"

It was at this point that Miya walked into the hallway. "Now Tohsaka-kun, that is no way to treat a guest." She looked down at boy with mild surprise before saying. "Ara, hello little one. Have you become lost?"

For his part, the boy didn't even seem to notice what she said, and instead looked up at the landlady with an excited expression. "Ah, you must be the 'Type-Sekirei' I have heard so much about! I have so much to ask you about yourself and your kind!"

Miya simply crinkled her eyes and gave a small smile. "Type-Sekirei? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well, it is a title we give to the most powerful of their respective species. Really there are some more criteria than that, but for the moment Shirou has not told me of your full capabilities, so I am using it somewhat informally with regards to you, if that is alright." The boy replied academically, receiving confused looks from both Rin and Miya. After a moment, something occurred to the boy and he put his head in his hands. "Ah! I am terribly sorry for my rudeness, in my excitement I forgot to introduce myself."

He took a step back and gave a bow. "My name is Merem Solomon, Member of the Holy Church of Rome, Executor for Burial Agency, and twentieth of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, at your service."

A choking sound came from Rin's mouth at this statement, and her body went rigid. She of course had a general knowledge of all of the current Dead Apostle Ansestors, and was aware that there was one that worked for the Church that did artifact retrieval for them, but she had never thought that she would meet one of them in person. She would have thought that she had met enough horrendously powerful people during the Grail War, but once again it seemed like fate had other plans.

Miya of course did not share Rin's sudden trepidation. "Ah, now I remember. Sahashi-kun told me about you when we first met. When you say that you are a… Dead Apostle, you mean that you are a vampire, correct?" She put a hand to the side of her face as her voice took on a condescending tone, as if she was talking to an actual child rather than a millennia old quasi-demon of respectable power.

For his part, Merem simply gave her a small smile in return. "Ah, Shirou did tell me that you still need some convincing on some of the finer points of this world. Yes, in answer to your question I am in layman's terms a vampire. I have been as such for about 2000 years now." A frown settled on his face. "Though I would appreciate it if you did not ask me if I sparkle in sunlight. I have heard enough jokes about that because of that accursed woman as is."

Thankfully, Miya did not know what he was talking about or simply did not chose to press the matter as she then said "2000 years you say? Well, I do hope that you can prove that claim."

"Yes, of course. Can we discuss the matter perhaps somewhere more hospitable than the hallway, if possible? I should also like to see Shirou Kotomine as well, as he is the reason I came here in the first place."

"Certainly, though I am afraid that Sahashi-kun is out at the moment. It seems that the events of the day were too taxing for him and he absconded with the only other male in the house. I believe he yelled something about 'bro time' before he left."

Merem arched an eyebrow. "That's… unusual. He's usually more- well I wouldn't say composed, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Now if we could-" the Apostle abruptly paused, titling his head to the left as if listening to someone. "Oh dear, it seems that my excitement has gotten the better of me again. There is someone else who would like to introduce themselves to you."

His left arm gave off a brief glow before it warped, twisted and then finally imploded into a smaller volume. Merem caught the newly formed thing with his right hand before it dropped, and now his left sleeve hung empty at his side. Looking closer at his hand, Rin could see that it now held a white rat with a large red gemstone around its neck and an almost comical tiny crown resting on it head.

Considering all she had seen so far, Rin was only mildly surprised when Merem held the rat out to Miya and the small creature said in a voice belonging to an old man "Greetings, Sekirei-dono. I am the King of Rats. It is a pleasure to meet you."

As Rin watched the landlady hesitantly and awkwardly introduce herself to the demon rodent, she started to wonder if she should have gone drinking like Shirou.


	19. Chapter 16

The first thing I noticed upon gaining consciousness was the pain lancing through my head. My efforts to forget my problems last night had caught up with me, and the hangover I was experiencing was telling me that I had consumed a great deal of alcohol in pursuit of that goal. I was face down on top over what ever I had fallen asleep on, so I couldn't see anything. _Come to think of it, where am I?_ I thought to myself. _Did I even make it home last night?_ As if in answer to the question, a memory floated up from the depths of my mind.

"_Well, it seems you had an eventful evening." Miya said with a hint of concern from the doorway._

"_Itss okay! Ima drunk!" I responded cheerfully as I tried to walk forward, but gravity was once again proving to be fickle and tried to drag me down at a weird angle._

_Fortunately, Homura had his shoulders under my arm and was assisting in leading me forward. "You were drunk an hour ago." The man said dryly. "Now I think it's amazing that you aren't so saturated in alcohol that you've spontaneously combusted."_

"_Naah, I got it to stops that a long time ago." I said. "Though I could totally do it now if you-"_

"_No!" Both Sekirei yelled at me._

I gave a small moan as bits and fragments of last night came back to me. It seemed that I was partially successful in removing some of my memories, although I failed to remove the one that caused me to try to forget in the first place. Well, at the very least I was back in the inn. Considering the state I was in, I decided to get comfortable and lay there for a little while longer while I collected my scattered thoughts, and get over the pounding in my head.

Despite the pain though, I focused a little harder to remember what happened next. There was something important… no, someone important.

"_Merem! What are you- oh right…" I started to say before I remembered Yukia's call about my associate's arrival._

"_It seems that my timing is inconvenient." The Apostle said with an arch of his eyebrow. "I would not have expected you would respond to the destruction of your apartment like this. You usually love a good conflagration."_

"_Yeaaah…" I said as I awkwardly rubbed the back of my head. "It wasn't the fire 'sactly, it was the old friend that was in the coma that I put her in that showed up suddenly and isn't quite thinkin' right that got me down." Well, and the fact that I still loved her, but he didn't need to know that._

_Merem blinked at this and was silent for a moment, parsing my previous sentence into something he could understand. "Ah, do you mean the Matou girl? Is she truly awake and here?" He asked, genuinely surprised by this information. "Fascinating! I do wonder how her condition is after all this time. It seems that coming to this city is giving me even more things to research than I thought!" He said happily._

_I was mildly annoyed at how he considered Sakura a 'thing to research', but I put that aside for the moment. "Hey, about that, how didja get into tha city? I thought MBI had the whole thing locked down."_

_Merem scoffed. "Please. Though I may not flaunt it like some of my brethren, I am still a Dead Apostle Ancestor. I have enough skill to slip by a few humans with guns."_

"_Huh. So are you the only one?"_

"_For now. I am going to assess the situation in the city before reporting back, though unless things are much worse than we thought, I don't foresee there being a need for many more. Besides, I of course brought my usual entourage with me." He gestured to the side with his right arm, as his left arm was currently in its human form chatting with Miya. She had something of a sour look on her face as the King of Rats spoke of his origin and all it had seen over the millennia._

_She was probably having a slightly harder time disbelieving the whole magic thing now._

Things got fuzzy again after that, but I vaguely remembered Merem saying something to the effect that he would be back again later so he could speak to me when I was sober. I would likely be seeing him later that day, but I found it to be hard to plan that far ahead when my bedding was so comfortable.

I spared a moment to consider just what it was I was on top of. I at first thought it to be a particularly lumpy part of the futon, but it was much too warm and soft for that. On a hunch, I shifted my head around a little and indeed found it to be surrounded by a distinct pair of lumps. Ah, of course, I was on top of Nero. Usually it would be the other way around, but I certainly wasn't going to complain.

Still, I knew that there was at least one other important thing I had to remember before it could let my mind drift off again. It was something Merem told me and Rin. Something… about Sakura. Right, he took a look at her before he left. He told us what was wrong with her.

"_Nothing!" He said cheerfully._

_Rin and I gaped at the apparent child in front of us. "You can't possibly be serious." Rin said incredulously. "She herself admitted that she isn't behaving normally!"_

"_Well, to be clear, there is nothing supernaturally wrong with her." Merem clarified. "There is no trace of physical or mental corruption in her. I must say, you did a very thorough job, Kotomine."_

"_Y-yeah, but she ain't fine." I said. "She's not actin' like herself."_

_He shrugged. "Given what has happened to her, Sakura is acting as a human normally should, if not better all things considered."_

"_What do you mean?" Rin asked._

"_I have never looked too deeply into the workings of the Matou family, but there are… rumors about how they train their magi." Rin and I shifted uncomfortably at this, not wanting to think about that part of Sakura's past. "She also had to participate in a brutal and bloody secret war, in which she was possessed wholly by all the evils of mankind and almost killed her two closest friends. It is safe to say that the poor girl has gained some mental scars over her relatively short life."_

_The two of us were silent for a moment before I said "But how do we help her?"_

"_Get her a therapist." We glared at Merem as he gave a small chuckle at his own joke. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. Although it's worth noting that it would actually be very good for her. Of course, you would need one who would be able to deal with magus problems, and those are hard to come by. However… hmm, if magi therapists did exist, it might make you lot more pleasant…" Merem cupped his hand to his chin, his mind already off in its own place._

"_Hey! Focus!" Rin said as she snapped her finger at him._

"_Oh, sorry, drifted off for a second there." He apologized. "In any case, I would say the best that can be done for her is to just be with her. Care for her. Try to give her a normal life. It won't be easy, but with enough time, she will heal."_

_It wasn't what I was expecting, but it did give me a little more hope than I had a while ago. "So, that's it? You didn't find anything off with her?"_

_"I did not find-" Merem paused as a thought occurred to him. "Well, I found nothing wrong, but there was something odd. The basis of the Matou magic is Absorption, correct? They use a form of Water magic to accomplish this."_

_"Yes. Why?" Rin asked curiously._

_"Because Sakura does not have a Water alignment in addition to her Imaginary Numbers alignment. It seems to have changed."_

_"To what?"_

_"Fire. It is only a guess on my part, but I don't think she is able to use the Matou magecraft anymore. I believe that she has gained a different ability in its place."_

_"What would that be?" I asked_

_"In a word, Disintegration."_

The fact that one of Sakura's alignments had changed was somewhat troubling to me. More so because I was most likely the one to blame. Changing an alignment was no small task and was usually highly dangerous, but it looked like I had done just that as a side effect of pouring so much Scourging Flame into her, by accident no less. Still, it didn't sound like it was bad for her, and there was nothing I could do about it. So for the moment, I decided that I had had enough critical thought and tried to go back to sleep.

Besides, thinking was rather difficult at the moment, not just because of the hangover, but because Nero's breasts felt _fantastic_ that morning. Seriously, it was almost like they were a full size bigger than they should have been. Not only that, she had opted to sleep sans clothes, so there was nothing between me and the things I was using as pillow. It was kind of weird how she smelled of clean linens, but I didn't feel like questioning it. I nuzzled in a little deeper and gave a contented sigh.

My wife apparently noticed, as a moment later I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. "Chiho…" she murmured happily.

The name Chiho puttered around in my brain for a while, but it failed to connect to anything. Nero had called out her old wife's name once or twice in her sleep (something I had come to accept), but I had no idea who this new person was. "Who's Chiho?" I asked as I picked my head up to look at my wife.

Naturally it took me a few seconds of looking at her in my sleepy and hungover state to realize that I was in fact not on top of Nero. Uzume was in a similarly confused state until she realized at the same time that I was not 'Chiho.' The two of us looked at each other with wide eyes for a second before we glanced down at ourselves to find that the only thing separating us was a pair of panties and boxers.

We were perfectly still for several long seconds, the awkward tension between us so thick you could cut it with a knife. I had to say something, anything! But what they hell do you say to a woman who you've been pretend flirting with when you both wake up almost naked in bed with each other?

"Let's face it, we both knew this was going to happen eventually."

Well, there's that.

Uzmue looked at me incredulously for a moment before she burst out laughing. This in turned caused me to laugh as well, and soon we were both rolling on the floor instead of each other. The tension successfully defused, the two of us then found ourselves leaning against the wall next to one another. "So, how did we get like that anyway?" I asked.

"Beats me." She said, hugging her knees in a simply effort at modesty. "Me and Kazahana-nee-san were out drinking last night, and things got kinda hazy."

"Kazahana?" I asked.

Uzume pointed, and I followed her finger to find that we were not the only two in the room. There was a dark haired woman (who was in an identical state of undress to the woman next to me) sleeping on her back a short distance away, which I was only then noticing. I was also noticing that Nero, just like I was a few moments ago with Uzume, was lying on top of her with her head firmly on her chest. Thankfully she had a nightie on. I considered waking my wife up, but…

"Boobies…" Nero muttered happily while nuzzling her makeshift pillows. She looked so happy.

In any case, the name Kazahana was definitely familiar, and I could tell from my senses that she was a Sekirei. I couldn't remember exactly who she was though. I really needed to start researching more Sekirei beyond the ones I was immediately interested in. I spared a glance at Uzume. "So I'm guessing she's your… sister-Sekirei?" I asked, not really sure what the term was for Sekirei who belonged to a single Ashikabi.

Uzume seemed to know what I saying though and shook her head. "Nah, she and I are just friends. I don't think she even has an Ashikabi yet."

"And is it normal for you two friends to sneak into people's rooms mostly naked?"

She gave an embarrassed grin. "Sorry about that bro. I did say we had a lot to drink…" she trailed off and looked at me in confusion. "Wait, what are you doing here? I thought you had your own place."

I sighed. "It's… complicated. A lot happened yesterday and, well, let's just say you weren't the only one out drinking last night."

"Really? What happened?" She asked, genuinely curious.

My relationship with Uzume was an odd one, and a bit difficult for me to classify. Even though my contact with her was more sporadic then with anyone else at the inn, I always found the woman easy to relate to and comfortable to be around. Maybe it was because her playful attitude reminded me of Ayako so much, but it just seemed natural to confide in her.

So, I told her. Not everything of course, as I had to leave out the parts involving magic, but I managed to give her the gist of the situation between myself and the 3 women who were complicating my life at the moment.

Uzume let out a low whistle at the end of my tale. "Damn, so you had these problems even before you got to this city." She said with a small chuckle. "I guess there's something to your roguish charms after all."

"Yeah, that they only work when I don't want them to." I said flatly. "I mean, I'm married for Christ's sake, I shouldn't have to deal with this."

"Well, sorry to say I ain't got any advice on how to handle your particular problem." She said with a shrug. "Maybe if they were all Sekirei you could get them to play nice, but you humans make the whole thing so much more complicated." A lecherous smirk then slowly spread on her face. "Although, maybe you should just avoid the problem altogether by switching to the other side. You know, seeing how you already winged Homura…"

"Actually, I'm already bi." I remarked off hand. "And besides, I'm sure all that would accomplish is dragging some other poor bastard into this mess."

Uzume had not expected that response. "What?! S-so you and Homura are-"

"Not like that." I stated firmly. "He's still perfectly straight and I have no interest in him in that manner."

"Oh. Well, that just takes all the fun out of teasing him then." Uzume said with a frown. I gave her a small frown of my own at the comment and she continued. "Oh, it was nothing serious. Besides, I was actually trying to connect with him a little seeing as how my own Ashikabi is female."

"Really?" I said in surprise and she nodded. "Ok, just to be clear, the whole thing with Sekirei and their Ashikabi is about mating, correct? Then why in the hell have the majority of the Sekirei I've met had same-sex partners?" Seriously, how did that help with their species reproduction? I would accept it if the ratio was simply more than humans, but the only pair in the inn at the moment who were opposite sex were myself and Matsu.

The woman's brow furrowed at the question. "You know, I've never really thought about it before, but yeah that does seem kinda weird."

We were both silent for a moment before I said "So, I'm going to guess that Chiho is your Ashikabi?" Uzume gave a start of surprise and looked at me in mild alarm, so I clarified "That was the name you said when we were both… you know."

The woman next to me then became uncomfortable and started to fidget. "Uh, well…"

"What's wrong? Do you not want to talk about it?"

"Not exactly, it's just…" she trailed off before giving a sigh. "You don't want any part of the Plan, right? That's what you told the CEO. That you would burn him to the ground or something."

"Something like that."

"It's just that I don't want her to get involved in this." She said. She paused for a moment to give me an appraising look before she became resigned. "Ah to hell with it. Chiho's sick."

I blinked. "I'm sorry. With what?"

"No idea. Over a decade of research and the doctors don't really know either. All I know is that she's really weak, and any physical exertion makes it worse. She has to live in the hospital because of it. And the one who owns the hospital…" she trailed off, her face darkening for some reason. "It's not important. What is important is that I don't know if I could protect her if others in the Plan found out."

Ah, so that's why she had been hesitant to talk about it. It was probably only the fact that I had so openly declared my contempt for all the nonsense going on with MBI that she said anything at all. It was actually pretty smart of her all things considered. Still, there was one thing she said that nagged at me. "A decade of research and she still can't leave the hospital? Is she… getting worse?"

The silence that followed was only made worse by Uzume's short, bitter response. "Yes."

My heat sank to hear that. "That means that you…" I trailed off. When I had been planning with Matsu about how to handle MBI, I was told of all the most effective ways to terminate an enemy Sekirei. I was then made aware that when an Ashikabi dies, so do all of their bonded ones.

Uzume knew what I was getting at, judging by the sad smile on her face. "I know. But I don't regret it, not one bit. I am Sekirei, and Chiho is my Ashikabi. She is the one who makes me complete, the one who I'm to spend my life with, for however long that might be. I will gladly trade all those years I might have had alone for the few I have with her."

I felt a small amount of awe at the commitment that I saw in the woman before me. I often found the Sekirei bond to be a strange, alien thing which forced emotion out from biological and psychic urges. But looking at the woman next to me who was happy to die because she had met the one she was reacting to, I had to wonder if maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe it was more real than I gave it credit for.

I leaned a bit closer to her, touching my shoulder to hers. "If you ever need anything, just let me know." I said softly. I wasn't sure what I could do for her; I wasn't exactly a healer, and the Church did not like sending those that could do so just on the personal request of its agents. Still, if there was anything I could do for Uzume, I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

She was a little surprised by the offer, but she still smile back in thanks. She then leaned into me much harder and more quickly than I had, causing me to fall over on my side with a yelp. "Ah geez, how'd things get to serious?" She asked with a small smirk. "We're supposed to be talking about you and your developing harem. And how you still failed to add me to it."

I pushed myself back up. "Well, I think the fact that you're a lesbian might have had something to do with my failure."

Her smile turned coy. "Oh really? And who says you're the only one who lets the door swing both ways?"

I chuckled. "Whatever the case, if and when I do eventually snap and begin my conquest, there will always be a spot open for you if you want it. At the very least it will make Nero happy."

Uzume let out a soft laugh before she turned her attention to the other two occupants in the room. "Speaking of which, we should probably do something about that before Miya stumbles in here and finds out."

I nodded and crawled the short distance to reach my wife and the person she was using as a body pillow, Uzume not far behind me. As our conversation hadn't woken them up, I was going to have to use a different approach. "Hey, wake up." I said as I shook Nero.

Nero blinked sleepily and picked herself up somewhat, giving a yaw that would have made a lion proud. Her expression quickly turned to one of surprise when she noticed that her pillows were in fact a pair of breasts. She looked up at the woman's face, looked back down at her chest again… and then gave a shrug before she laid her head back down, this time with a cat like smile on face as she made herself 'comfortable'.

I rolled my eyes as I ignored Uzume's snickering from behind me. "Nero, what have I told you about using random women's breasts as head support?" I said flatly.

She looked back up at me slightly confused. "… I don't believe you've ever said anything about that."

"That's because I shouldn't have to!" I yelled in frustration.

This outburst finally prompted Kazahana to wake up, and she gave a small moan as she clutched her head. "You don't have to shout, I'm right here." She shifted and felt the weight on top of her, causing her to open her eyes and look around the room in confusion. "What the… how did we get like this?"

I sighed. "I honestly don't know, but I'm sure that copious amounts of alcohol played a factor."

The dark haired woman turned her attention to me looking like she was about to say something, but whatever it was died on her lips as soon as we made eye contact. Her eyes widened, and a flush crossed her face. She slowly got up (pushing Nero of her in the process) and leaned towards me, her hand coming up to touch my face. "You… look so familiar. The shape of your face, it's just like his."

"Damn bro, this was even faster then last time." Uzume said in surprise. "If you keep this up, half the Sekerei in the city will belong to you before the month's out."

I leaned back awkwardly, but Kazahana simply leaned forward more and I found myself bumping into Uzume. Considering how much this situation was reminding me of when I first met Matsu, I really wanted to get away before I ended up with yet another complication in my life. "Uh, Nero, a little help here?" I said, trying to keep my discomfort out of my voice.

When my wife answered with laughter, I knew I had made a mistake. "Ho ho ho! I do believe I can see where _this_ is going." With a swift motion, she removed her nightie and playfully jumped at the three us, causing me to be at the bottom of a pile of mostly naked women.

Again.

"Not what I meant!" I shouted as I tried to dig myself out without touching anything inappropriate. It was difficult with all the tangled limbs, but at least I had some camaraderie with Uzume, who looked as uncomfortable and awkward as I was with our sudden position.

That was, of course, when the door the room opened and Homura stepped in. "Hey, it's almost lunchtime, are you feeling up-" the sentence cut of when he saw the lot of us, and everyone went still. The room was silent for a moment before Homura's palm met his face. "It's just not fair." He muttered to himself.

"Homura! I'm trapped! Get me out of here!" I yelled as I tied to squirm out from under the other 3.

"Your problems are completely alien to me." The man replied flatly. "Also, they make me want to punch you for contextualizing them as problems." Despite this, he still walked over and managed to help separate the lot of us (a feat made more difficult by Nero's attempts to add him in as well).

"Mou." My wife pouted as everyone started putting on clothes again. "This is a waste of a perfectly good opportunity."

"Ignoring the rather questionable consent of all the parties involved, I am really not in the mood for this sort of thing with a bunch of random people right now." I replied.

"Oh? So does that mean that you have certain people in mind?" she asked coyly.

My eyebrow twitched. _Ok, I walked right into that one._

Thankfully, Homura came to my rescue once again. "Oy, that's enough of that. You're lucky that Miya is with Sakura in the kitchen making lunch, because I know she'd be unhappy if she walked in on… this," he gestured vaguely "rather than me."

I looked at him questioningly. "Aren't you curious as to how this happened?"

"No." He said. "I've come to learn that any explanation involving you will be so absurd that I would have rather not learned about it at all. Like last night." Houmra twitched in annoyance as he remembered the explanation of my relationship with the sisters Tohsaka. He then perked up as he remembered something. "Speaking of which, that… thing that showed up last night left this letter for you. He was going to hand it to you on his way out, but you were passed out by then."

I frowned as I took the letter from him. "A letter? Who on Earth would be sending me a-" I cut myself off as read the name on the envelop.

My brow began to twitch furiously. I wanted to burn it right then and there. I knew that it would keep my headache from getting worse. But _she_ would find out. She always finds out. Giving the sigh of the damned, I opened it and read the contents.

_Dear Onii-chan,_

_It has been awhile since we have seen each other. One might say that you're actively trying to avoid me, but since it would be silly for a member of the Burial Agency to be afraid of a mere, sickly Exorcist, I'm sure it is just my imagination. Then again, you have simply been doing your job in Shin Tokyo, so that is commendable._

_Speaking of which, I've heard that you have been doing a good job with that new species that was found. This is even more impressive considering your terrible personal skills, so I congratulate you on overcoming your deficiency. In any case, I am writing to inform you that I will be take over the duties our father once held in Fuyuki very shortly. I'm sure that I will be visiting you at the earliest possible convenience. I've heard that there is some nonsense going on with a local corporation, but I'm sure you'll have that all cleaned up before I arrive._

_P.S. I've decided to take up a hobby, so I've commandeered your room at the Vatican as a sewing room. Seeing as how you have your own place in the city, this should not be a terrible issue for you. Unless of course you burned that to the ground, but I'm sure that is not the case._

_Sincerely, your beloved Imouto._

The paper crumpled in my hand as I shouted in frustration at my oncoming doom. "CAAAAAAREEEEEN!"


	20. Chapter 17

Homura walked down the stairs and to the dining room, leaving Shirou to handle whatever that mess was that he had just found. Considering the state his Ashikabi was in when Homura had dragged him up to his room last night, he highly doubted that anything had actually happened between the man on the other 3 women. Well, not for a lack of Nero trying anyway. And that other woman who Homura really felt he should recognize from somewhere seemed to be ok with it too. Really, Uzume was the only one acting sensibly in that whole nonsense.

Homura walked into the dining room to find Rin looking over a stack of papers, her Sekirei seated on either side of her. The dark haired girl looked up as he entered the room. "What is Shirou cursing Caren's name for this time?"

Homura blinked in surprise at how she didn't seem at all confused at how Shirou had just shouted a woman's name as if calling for vengeance. "I don't know. All I did was hand him a letter from that…" he spared a glance a Tsukiumi. "person who came here last night. Who is Caren anyway?"

"His sister."

"Wait, I thought his sister's name was Yukari."

"Caren is his step-sister." Rin said with a sigh. "She's the daughter of that priest which raised him. Unfortunately, she picked up a trait or two from the man."

Homura frowned. "Shirou has never really talked about it, but I've gotten the impression from him that his father was not the best of men. Is Caren…?"

Rin snorted. "While saying that Kirei Kotomine was 'not the best of men' is a better complement than he deserves, his daughter is fortunately not a bad person." She looked of to the side and grumbled. "Merely annoying as hell."

Homura was about to ask more about it, but then remembered that he probably wouldn't like the answer anyway and changed the subject. "So, what are all the papers for?"

"Contracts with GeoSynth." She replied as she turned back to the work in front of her. "It's the artificial gem lab that I was coming to Japan to meet with in the first place. It took a while to reschedule an appointment since I missed the first one, but that's had its advantages." Rin gave a smirk that looked positively evil. "Because I got an MBI card, the company has made a very generous first payment for me. I think I might build a swimming pool back at my estate for this."

The man wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. On the one hand he felt like chastising her for using MBI's money irresponsibly, but on the other hand… well, Minaka certainly deserved worse. "So, what are you going to do when they find out that you're not using that money for the Sekirei Plan?"

She shrugged. "What can they do? It's not like I signed any legally binding documents or anything, and I somehow doubt that they'll be viewing me in a positive light for much longer given what we're planning. Besides, I am using some of it for the Plan." She pointed her thumb off to the side. "I am having a workshop built in the vacant lot next to the inn. It is a crude thing compared to the one I have back in London, but it shall suffice for the time being."

"I had wondered what that was…" Homura muttered to himself. He had seen the shed being built for the past few days but had not enquired what it was for.

Tsukimui merely grunted at this. "Though it is admirable that you are taking this seriously, I do not see what good a 'workshop' will do. I as the strongest Sekirei will most definitely win the Sekirei Plan!" She said with her fist held clenched in front of her.

Homura winced slightly at this. It had only been a day since Tsukimui had joined the group, so she still didn't know that they were actually planning to put a stop to the whole nonsense. Considering how focused on the Plan she was, Tsukimui would likely not enjoy hearing it either. Rin must have been thinking the same thing, as she glanced at the blonde to her right with her lips pressed together.

Whatever she might have had to say though was interrupted when Musubi jumped in and said "That's right! Together we can protect Rin-san and win!"

Rin turned to Musubi with a confused look on her face. "Wait, Tsukiumi I can understand, but how is it you don't know about this?"

"Know about what?" The woman asked, tilting her head to the side.

"She obviously is talking about how there can only be one winner." Tsukiumi said. "We can be allies up to a point, but when it comes to the end there can only be one Sekirei and their Ashikabi who win the Plan."

"Oh right!" Musubi said cheerfully, knuckling her hand into her head. "I forgot!"

"No, I was taking about- wait, what do you mean there can only be one Sekirei?" Rin asked, her expression shifting to concern. "I assumed that was a generalization because most never wing more than one. MBI can't possible expect Sekirei bonded to the same person to fight each other."

"Those are the rules." The blonde to her right said sternly.

"I look forward to fighting you someday, Tsukiumi-san!" the brunette to her left said happily.

Rin looked at both of the women, an expression of bewilderment and mild horror on her face. Then her expression grew harder. "No."

"What?"

"I am forbidding you two from ever fighting each other." Rin said in a serious tone. "I don't care what any 'rules' might say, I will not have one of you die at the other's hand for such a stupid reason as that."

"But we're supposed to!" Musubi insisted. "How else will we supposed to know who the strongest in the plan is?"

"We're not participating in the Plan idiot, we're trying to stop it!" Rin yelled. "We talked about this at least a half a dozen times!"

"Oh right!" Musubi exclaimed with a giggle. "I guess I forgot about that too!"

Rin groaned at this and put her head into her hand, but that was far from the end of it. Tsukiumi, quite predictably, was not pleased to hear what her Ashikabi was planning. "What?! What do you mean you're trying to stop it?!"

Rin turned back to her exasperated. "I mean that the Plan is pointlessly cruel and seems to serve no functional purposes whatsoever. I honestly don't understand why you are so keen on the idea."

"It- It's just what the Sekirei are supposed to do!" Tsukiumi replied. "The honor and glory of victory go to the winner!"

Homura noticed a small sneer form on Rin's lips at that statement. "Oh really? And who told you that it would be an honor to win? The people running the damn thing?" The blonde shifted uncomfortably, but Rin pressed on. "And what will you do to those who don't want to fight? Because I far as I can tell, that happens to be most of the Sekirei in the city."

"A-anyone who doesn't fight is a coward." Tsukiumi said, but now she looked less sure of herself.

"It's not cowardice if you just want to live and be left alone. I would accept it if you Sekirei had a different outlook on things because you're aliens, but everything I've seen of you so far shows that's not the case. Like I said, most Sekirei are appalled by the idea of the Plan." Rin leaned in closer. "So, what will you do when you get to the end and meet an opponent who doesn't want to fight? Would you terminate those who only want to be with their bonded ones? Would you end them as they begged you to let them stay with their loved ones? Is that the glory you were talking about?"

"I-I…" Tsukiumi stuttered as she tried to answer, but she was clearly too unnerved to say anything. She had probably never thought that far ahead in her quest to prove herself the Strongest. Homura was starting to think that foresight was not one of the strengths of their species. Still, it was a good thing that Tsukiumi was facing these issues now rather than making a mistake later.

However… "That's enough, Rin." Homura said, drawing the woman's attention to him. Good though it might be for her, it made him uncomfortable to see her so distressed. "You've made your point."

Rin gave him a level look before she sighed and relaxed. "Fine, but I'm not going to have any of my Sekirei attacking people who don't deserve it. Besides, I'm sure that we can find plenty who do if you're really interested."

"Yay!" Musubi exclaimed. "I hope these people are really strong!"

The rest of the room just stared at the shrine maiden's in response to her statement. Fortunately, they didn't have to respond to it as a moment later the landlady walked into the room, a tray of food held before her. "You can put those papers away now, Rin-kun. I shall not have such business over lunch." She gave a mock sigh of sadness. "But to think that I might not even be making it any more. Your friend Sakura is quite good the culinary arts, as is that Deacon of yours. With the lot of you moved in, my kitchen is in danger of being taken over!"

Sakura followed in behind Miya, a plate in her hands as well. "Rin is also quite good at it Miya-sama." She said as she set the plate down on the table. "The three of us did not really have proper guardians, so we had to learn how to take care of ourselves. Over time, it became something of a competition between us." Akitsu followed behind her Ashikabi, carrying a tea pot.

"And nothing breeds skill like competition I suppose." Miya mused as she set down her own plate. In short order the table was soon filled and everyone was seated somewhere or another. Miya glanced around for a moment. "Is Sahashi-kun still asleep? I would have hoped that he was good enough to get out of bed by now."

"He's fine." Homura said dryly. "Last I saw he was with Uzume and the guest she brought here last night."

"I wasn't aware that the lay about had brought someone here." Miya remarked. Uzume had come home even later than Shirou and Homura had. "Is it anyone I know?"

"I should certainly hope so, Miya-san." A voice drifted into the room, and following it was the dark-haired woman Homura had seen earlier, though thankfully she was wearing more clothes this time (even if the purple Chinese dress left little to the imagination). "After all, I did rent from you some time ago, among other things."

Miya looked at the woman in mild surprise. "Had I known you were stopping by I would have asked that you did so during the day rather than in the dead of night, Kazehana."

The name gave Homura a moment's pause, and he went still on remembering where he had heard it before. Kazehana, No. 03, former member of the first Disciplinary Squad. And she had been naked on top of his Ashikabi a few minutes ago. Why did that damn idiot end up attracting all of the dangerous people in the city?!

Said idiot was not far behind the dark haired woman, and perked up as well at Miya's comment. "Wait, Kazehana? Aren't you-" whatever else he was going to say was cut off as he glanced around the room and noticed Rin and Sakura. All three of them then looked away from each other awkwardly, light blushes forming on their faces. Homura simply pinched the bridge of his nose at this. He had spent his adolescence in the MBI tower like the rest of the Sekirei, but he had a sneaking suspicion that this is what high school would have been like.

Before any of them tied to do anything about the situation there was knock at the door. "I'll get it." Shirou said quickly and he swiftly made his way out of the room.

"What was that about?" Tsukiumi asked.

"Don't ask." Homura groaned.

The assembled group could hear Shirou taking with someone, but they couldn't make out any words. Kazehana turned to the landlady. "In any case, I find myself wanting to become a renter again."

"Really? Well, I suppose there is no problem with that, though I do hope that at least some of the new renters I've acquired in the past few days are able to actually pay rent." Miya replied with amusement.

Shirou then came back into the room. "I'm sorry everyone, but it looks like I'm going to have to eat and run." He said, and he began quickly taking food off the table and wolfing it down.

Miya frowned at this. "Manners, Sahashi-kun! And why is it that you have to leave us so quickly."

Shirou was draining a glass of orange juice as she said that, so someone else answered for him. "I'm afraid that is my fault." A cheerful old voice said, and that… thing that looked like an old man in priest garb stepped into the doorway. "Something has come up and we really do need him for church business immediately."

Miya merely twisted her mouth at him, but said nothing. A few moments later, Shirou finished stuffing his face and swallowed. "So, I… Uh, we'll… bye." He said awkwardly before he walked out the door with the priest.

Mubusi waved emphatically at their backs. "Bye Shirou-san! Bye King of Rats-san!"

"What?" Tsukiumi said, looking confused at the brunette's odd combination of title and honorific. "That can't- why would you call him that?"

"Because he's the King of Rats!" She replied. "He's actually this really cute little rat with a crown that can turn into a person! And he's also some boy's left arm! Because of magic!"

The table was silent at this, Tsukiumi and Kazehana staring at the girl like she was crazy, Homura, Miya and Rin shifting uncomfortably as they really didn't want to have to explain this. "Musubi…" Rin said slowly and with a fake smile on her face. "What have I told you about saying things like… that in front of other people?"

She looked at Rin in surprise. "Oh! Is this like the same thing with your making people fall asleep and your magic eye laser?"

"That was _you_?!" Tsukiumi exclaimed, pointing her finger at her Ashikabi. "I thought that I was just imagining that!"

A tick mark formed on Rin's head but she still managed to keep her smile. "Yes, well, that was me, but it wasn't magic. I simply have a very advanced prosthetic eye." She lied smoothly.

Tsukiumi frowned at her. "Why do you have an eye that can shoot lasers?"

"What part of 'because laser eye' do you aliens not understand?" Rin snapped.

"Ano…" Heads turned to the hesitant voice and found Sakura looking confused. "I'm sorry, but do the Sekirei know about magic? Akitsu wasn't very clear on this."

"Ah…" said the passive woman behind her. "I didn't know."

Rin gaped at her sister for a moment before she put her head in her hands with a groan. Fortunately, Miya stepped into and changed the topic. "Ara, that is enough of such silly nonsense. Let's move on to more important matters shall we? As it seems that you will be staying for a while, might it be best if you introduce yourself, Kazehana-san?"

"There is not much to tell, I'm afraid." The woman said, pulling a sake bottle from somewhere on her person and taking a drink, her tone taking a whimsical air. "I am No. 03, Kazehana, a searcher of love once lost."

Tsukiumi's need for propriety overcame her incredulousness at the previous conversation and she responded in kind. "I-I am No. 9, Tsukiumi. And I am the strongest Sekirei!" She exclaimed, falling back on old habits.

However, Sakura once again spoke up. "Wait, I thought Miya was the strongest Sekirei? Isn't that what the 01 means?"

"_What?!_" Tsukiumi exclaimed, now pointing her finger at Miya. "Y-you're the 01?!"

"Sakura… you're really bad at this." Rin said flatly.

The white haired woman had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm lacking some context to the current situation."

"Indeed you are, Sakura-chan." Miya said, her tone taking on that subtle dangerous quality that Homura knew all too well. "Perhaps you would do best to remain silent for now, lest you open your mouth and let things slip that others might have wanted to keep hidden." The landlady crinkled her eyes shut and smiled, and just as he feared the Hannya mask formed over her shoulder, radiating fear and malevolence.

However, somehow, Sakura merely smiled at this. "Miya-san, I do apologize, but you shouldn't use such a negative method of keeping order. Fear is an immoral motivator in my opinion."

Miya blinked in surprise at how ineffective her usual method seemed to be on this woman in front of her. Still, the 01 was not used to backing down, so instead of letting the technique go, she increased it. Black tendrils of darkness flowed from the mask, and the whispers of the dammed could be heard all around the room. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Miya said placidly.

"Believe that you do." Sakura returned, her own smile not wavering.

Miya frowned and increased the technique even more. More masks began to appear behind her, each its own grotesques visage promising horror and despair. They continued until they were an endless fractal pattern of non-Euclidian terror and insanity and _oh dear god he can see the face of Yog-Sothoth-_

Homura gave a start when he realized that the technique had ended. He found that he couldn't remember the past minute or so, but something told him that was for the best. The state of the others reinforced this idea, with Musubi and Tsukiumi clinging on to Rin, all three of their mouths open in horror. Kazehana had dropped the bottle of sake and was twitching slightly. Akistu had become so still that she was almost a statue.

But Sakura? She was still. Just. Smiling.

Miya looked at the white haired woman in confusion. "But… how..?"

Without the smile leaving her face, Sakura said, "When I was young I was violated in mind and body every day in order to break me. I have been subjected to such horrors that would drive men insane many times over. Then and only then, was I ready to have my being consumed by all the evils of man, and have my heart wrapped in a darkness so pure that no mere word can truly describe it's evil." She took a sip from her teacup. "I think your mask is cute."

The room held only the sound of stunned silence. Then, a loud slam caused everyone to jump, and all eyes turned on Tsukiumi, who had slammed her hands into the table. "Who the hell are you people?!" she screeched.

"Welcome to my hell." Homura said.

* * *

"So, what exactly is so important that you couldn't wait for me to have some lunch?" I asked the demon priest as I followed him down the street. He hadn't said much when I greeted him at the doorway to the inn, only that my presence was required immediately. I had full well been planning to see Merem later that day, so I was a little annoyed that he had sent his left arm to get me before then. Then again, I guess I deserved it considering how drunk I was when I met him that other night.

The old man gave me a sidelong glance. "Kotomine, a few weeks ago there was a Dead Apostle that made its way into the city, do you remember?"

I blinked, as I was not expecting that to come up in the conversation. "Yes, that was the night I met Hourma. Why do you ask?"

"You said that the Apostle had managed to bring some Ghouls into the city with it, did you not? Or at least that you found some with it when you killed it."

"Again, yes. What is your point?"

"And you are sure that you killed all of them?"

I suppressed an indignant huff at that. "Of course I did. Since when have you ever known me to leave ground unburned when there's a job to be done? The very idea-" I cut myself when I noticed the look he was giving me, and I felt my body tense as I picked up on what he was getting at. "Wait, you can't possibly mean-"

"That there are more undead still in the city." The King of Rats completed for me. "I have been enquiring with my brethren and I am afraid that such is the case."

There were times when I forgot what the being in front of me truly was. His title as King of Rats was not for show, and when he chose to he could use his status to command all rodents within a given area. The demon was quite proficient in information gathering. It is a good thing that he viewed humanity in a positive light, although it made sense considering that humanity is one of the best things to ever happen to the common rat.

I looked at him incredulously. "But that's impossible. I know that I killed them all. Did more somehow sneak into the city after that?"

"That would be unlikely considering all of the security that has been posted around Shin Tokyo as of late. Sure, there are those that have the skill to slip past such things with ease, but why bother with this city in particular. No, my master and I believe that there is something more insidious afoot." He leveled a critical glaze at me. "When the Clock Tower gave use that report of the Dead Apostle, they said he was alone. He could not have created the Ghouls in such a short time frame, let alone get them into the city."

I connected the dots in my head and came to the logical conclusion. "Which means that the Ghouls were already here…" I said. "Wait, that makes even less sense. If there already was an undead presence here, we would have noticed disappearances. They would have to be sustaining themselves somehow."

The demon priest shook his head. "I do not know the answer to that. I am not even sure of how many there are, as they seem to be trying to conceal themselves. All I know is what my brethren tell me, and I believe that I am very much familiar with the traces of the Type-Moon lineage."

I grumbled at this. "Well, this is just great. On top of all this Sekirei Plan nonsense there are an unknown number of undead running around the city. And they're clearly intelligent if they are trying to avoid detection, and they most likely have a plan if they have been here for a while."

"It is possible that they are aware of the Sekirei Plan and are using it to cover their movements. The people of Shin Tokyo have already become somewhat accustomed to people displaying superhuman abilities."

I gave a hum as I thought about this. It did make a degree of sense. Still… "MBI has been keeping track of absolutely everything that's been going on in the city since the Sekirei Plan has started. There's a slim chance they might know about this and simply don't know what to make of it. Have you tried infiltrating MBI Headquarters yet?"

At this, the King of Rats looked frustrated and somewhat embarrassed. "I can't."

I blinked at surprise at this. "What do you mean you can't? Just have some rats sneak in and-"

"I mean that the building is rodent proof." He said tersely. "It seems that MBI has put a lot of time and effect into making sure that other people don't find their secrets, and as a result those that are not people also have a hard time finding their way in."

"Really? That's unexpected. I mean, I get that they would want to protect against all avenues of attack, but this is more than most."

"Indeed." The other man said with a frown as he looked at the ground. "I have only seen it before with…" He trailed off before he shook his head. "Ah, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. It could be nothing."

"Hmp. So what's the plan?"

"My master is currently in contact with the Vatican to inform them of the situation. It is likely that more Executors will be mobilized, though this time they will simply infiltrate the city rather than trying to get in through the border guards. Merem himself will not be doing much about the Apostles for a number of reasons. One of which being he still has his original task of investigating the Sekirei, and the fact that the both of you will probably be overkill no matter what the situation actually is. Save perhaps another Ancestor. " He added as an afterthought. "However, I will be providing you assistance in the form of information. In fact, the purpose of this excursion is that I have located where a nest of undead are hiding."

"And I'm to take it out before it moves." I said, starting to feel a little better about this. "Alright. Just where have these things been hiding anyway?"

The King of Rats did not say anything, instead turning into an alleyway. I followed him in a short ways until he stopped and said "Your entry point is here."

I looked around confused. There were no doors I could see. I grinned as a thought occurred to me. "Oh, so I'm going in through the walls? I like the way you think."

"No, no, not that." He said quickly before pointing at a manhole cover. "Through here."

I blinked as I looked at the slab of metal. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

"Come now, this is far from the first time your work has taken you down to places which many of my brethren consider home."

"Yeah, but it's not like I ever actually _enjoy_ going down there. I get horrible cramps and smell terrible."

He arched and eyebrow at me. "What about that time with those Demon Cultists in Roanapur? You seemed pretty happy after that mission."

I paused for a moment before I smiled at remembering that one. "Ah, that brings me back." It was one of the first missions I did after I left high school. I was also the last time they let me go on a mission without Nero for some reason or another. "I should give Balalaika a call sometime. I haven't spoken with her in ages."

"Hasn't she tried to kill you several times since then?"

"That's just how she says hello." I dismissed.

The demon priest sighed and shook his head. "In any case, we should take care of the task at hand as soon as possible."

I gave a sigh of my own and bent down to lift up the lid. "You're not just making me do this because I was drunk last night, is it?"

"No, this is just a happy coincidence." He said with an irritatingly serene smile. "It reality it is because you are the best one for the job at the moment. Merem is… preoccupied and Yukia, while capable, is not fit for such a task. As for Nero, well, do you want to be the one to ask your wife to go into a sewer?"

I grumbled at that, but I knew he was right. Nero hated the sewers more than I did, and while Yukia was more rough and tumble than your average exorcist, she couldn't handle a large number of undead. "I don't suppose that I could avoid future assignment like this if I make you some of that pizza you love." I said as I lowered myself into the hole.

The King of Rats expression did not change, but his eyes took on a glimmer. "Well… I can promise nothing, but I will put in a good word for you."

I gave a small snort and let myself drop the rest of the way. I gave a glance around with the light the open lid provided me. It wasn't as cramped as some of the other ones I had been in, but it was still a sewer. There was no way I was using my Black Keys with any kind of effectiveness down here.

Still, I felt a small grin etch itself on my face. That just meant I would have to use other means at my disposal. The darkness around me retreated as flames danced around me, and I strode forward to start the hunt.


End file.
